Collingwood midfielder Adam Treloar has revealed just how close he came to quitting football altogether after last year’s Grand Final loss.
The superstar is a part of a new documentary Collingwood: From The Inside Out, where he speaks openly about dealing with anxiety from online trolling about his form.
Treloar struggled to hold back tears on Fox Footy, talking about what he went through in the middle of last year, where he injured both hamstrings in the same game.
“I was at a point last year where, it was almost like the hamstring injury I had was a blessing in disguise for me, because I was at the end, I almost wanted to, and that’s the brutal truth, I almost wanted to stop playing,” Treloar told AFL360.
“I think it’s important that people outside of footy understand that we are human beings.
“You deal with so much, you deal with anxiety on performance, expectation on performance, people ridiculing you.
“It seems like some people — and this is what was getting to me and by no means am I out of it, sometimes I still have my struggles — people judging you as a person the way you are as a player.
“I remember if it wasn’t for my partner (Australian Diamond) Kimmy (Ravaillion), for (ex-Pies captain) Nick Maxwell, Nathan Buckley, (Pies sports psychologist) Jacqui (Louder) and my family I probably wouldn’t be playing footy.”
Treloar revealed what Buckley said to him in the aftermath of the Grand Final defeat.
“He (Buckley) hugged me straight after the granny when we lost. I was bawling my eyes out and he came up to me and just told me that he loved me and it just meant so much to me,” Treloar said.
“He could have (said) “why didn’t you do this, why didn’t you do that” (but) he told me he loved me.
“One of the hardest things for me is still — and I’m honest about it — is the Grand Final.
“The fact that we were so close to winning it, the year that we had last year … the fact that we didn’t win, still kills me, still breaks my heart.”
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