DISCOUNT PIE
Collingwood invites Gold Coast Suns to trade for Treloar
COLLINGWOOD would have to pay some of Adam Treloar’s hefty salary next year to clinch a shock trade with the Gold Coast Suns.
Treloar was set to earn more than $800,000 next season but the only way the Suns could accommodate the star onballer is if the Magpies covered a significant chunk of his 2021 salary.
Treloar, 27, is adamant he does not want to swap clubs even though his partner, top class netballer Kim Ravaillion, is moving to Queensland to play next year. They have a young child.
The Suns are interested in Treloar and can trade the No.5 pick for him but believe there is a slim chance the deal can be done unless the Pies also agree to pay some of his wage.
Talks between the parties would also have to speed up as the Suns are still yet to speak with last year’s league-leading disposal winner about another fresh start one week out from the exchange period.
Former Collingwood recruiter Matt Rendell, who was moved on from the club this year, said it was the club’s preference to trade Treloar so he could be closer to his family next season.
“My belief is he might have gone to them and asked, ‘Do you want me?’ and they said ‘No’,” Rendell said.
“If that is the case he (Treloar) has got a decision to make now (whether to go or not). I have no doubt they said the same thing last year and he refused.”
Collingwood has been linked to a move on Essendon jet midfielder Zach Merrett but the Bombers’ ace has declared he is going nowhere.
Merrett will be one of the most sought-after free agents next year when he can walk to another club under AFL rules.
Treloar is one of the competition’s top ballwinners and has twice finished top-three in the club’s best and fairest.
But the former Giant has also endured significant hamstring problems which saw him miss six weeks this year and almost three months in 2018.
Rendell said the club had concerns whether Treloar’s family situation could affect his football in 2021.
“He is an obsessive compulsive kind of bloke which makes him a great footballer,” Rendell said on Trade Radio. “But they would be worried about him fretting about not seeing his partner.
“It is so hard to predict. They would be thinking it might affect his footy being separated from his partner and his child. They probably thought it is not a bad idea to float that (trade) again.
“He has said, ‘No, I can make it work, I want to stay in Melbourne. I like Melbourne’.”