Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge is unsure if prized recruit Adam Treloar will be fit for the club’s season opener later this month.
The dynamic midfielder, who joined the Bulldogs from Collingwood last trade period, is battling a calf issue that has restricted him over the past few weeks of pre-season training.
Beveridge says Treloar is touch and go to play some minutes for the reserves side against Casey on Monday as he continues to navigate another soft tissue problem in the lead-up to the Round 1 clash with his former club.
“Because he’s seasoned and he’s got a reasonable engine, he probably sets himself up as one of those case by case considerations,” Beveridge said on SEN Breakfast.
“He’d had a really strong training patch and then he got a cork in his calf and kept running on it. So it turned into something a little bit worse.
“We’ll give him a little bit of time. At the moment, he may play some minutes on Monday but it won’t be in the senior team that plays against Melbourne. That will be against Casey at the Whitten Oval in the early game, if he plays at all. We still need to clear that up.
“Then we’ve got about 12 days until Round 1 and we’ll just see how that shapes up.”
Beveridge also made an admission regarding the pre-season form of Josh Dunkley, who was unable to get to Essendon late last year after requesting a trade.
The 24-year-old cited more midfield time as a major reason for wanting the move to the Bombers after mixing his time between the forward line, middle and even in the ruck last year.
According to his coach, the 2016 premiership Dog has been below his best of late and will have to again prove himself before he is deployed as a permanent on-baller in 2021.
“I’ve been on record saying 'Dunks' and I are really close away from the club as much as that coach-player relationship,” Beveridge added.
“Look, we have moved on. Whatever the reasons were and the weight of the influence doesn’t really matter anymore.
“He has applied himself. He has trained extremely hard with the rest of the boys. He’s not at his best at the moment as far as his production on the ground.
“He didn’t play his best game against Hawthorn (last week). He’s fully aware that there’s pressure for game time in any role in our team.
“That’s what you do. Every year you endeavour to bolster your list, ensure it’s healthy, create new levels of competitiveness and that’s what we’ve been able to do by bringing Adam in and keeping Josh.
“Yeah, there’s pressure on for his spot and the role that he plays. He understands that and he’ll be treated the same as every other player.
“His teammates adore him, he’s always had close connections, and as much as it was a head scratcher, we’re in a good place with it.”
The Dogs take on the Demons at Marvel Stadium on Monday in their final serious tune up before the clash with the Magpies at the MCG on March 19.
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