Adam Treloar’s AFL career is in tatters after the Western Bulldogs veteran suffered another calf strain, reports 7NEWS Melbourne’s Mitch Cleary.
The popular 33-year-old has made just nine senior appearances since the start of last season, cut down after a career-best 2024 campaign that yielded 26 Brownlow votes and his first All Australian blazer.
He last played five weeks ago in a loss to Adelaide but spent nearly the entire third quarter on the bench for what coach Luke Beveridge said was a tactical decision.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
Treloar then dropped out of the side with illness, according to the club, but would be held out for three weeks before returning in the VFL on Sunday.
He had 37 disposals and five tackles in the loss to Frankston but any hopes of a recall have been dashed following his latest setback.
He is set to miss 4-6 weeks, all but ending his season given the Bulldogs would appear unlikely to risk him in the finals.
Treloar suffered his first calf complaint of the season in February and has been carefully managed since.
His career was on the brink at the end of last year, still without a contract for 2026 when he was overlooked for an effective AFL elimination final in Round 24 after a dominant VFL game.
He convinced the Bulldogs to play him in the VFL finals and was rewarded on two fronts.
Treloar had 35, 31 and 26 disposals in three wins as the Dogs’ reserves team won the premiership.
He inked a one-year deal in the week of the VFL grand final and lifted the cup to celebrate, but nothing has gone his way since.
Treloar began his career at GWS, playing 79 games over the expansion club’s first four years in the competition.
He joined Collingwood at the end of 2015 and was one kick away from becoming a premiership player in 2018.
Treloar was forced out two years later in a dramatic fire sale to clear salary cap space, but it became ugly when the Pies pinned it on his family situation.
He had a soft landing at Whitten Oval and helped the Bulldogs reach the grand final in his first season.
Treloar kicked two second-quarter goals in the Perth decider before Melbourne stormed home to win by 74 points.
The midfielder kicked his third goal — the Dogs’ only major in the last 54-plus minutes of the game — in the last term.
