Adam Treloar’s fiancee has spoken candidly about being blamed for the AFL superstar’s shock departure from Collingwood.
The club said the 28-year-old midfielder wouldn’t be able to cope if the love of his life Kim Ravaillion – a netball star – moved interstate with their newborn baby Georgie to play for the Queensland Firebirds.
But Ravaillion, who has represented Australia with the Diamonds and won a World Championship, said the club had already decided they wanted him gone – with some reports suggesting they wanted to be free of Treloar’s $800,000 a year contract.
Collingwood claimed Adam Treloar wouldn’t have been traded if his partner Kim (pictured together) chose to stay in Victoria
The couple (pictured) welcomed the birth of the first child Georgia to the world in 2020 with Ms Ravaillion, a world champion netball player, returning to play at the elite level of the sport this year
Treloar has long been open about his struggles with anxiety and that he relied on Ravaillion for support – previously admitting he wouldn’t be playing footy if not for her and a few key mentors.
The Magpies expressed concerns whether living interstate from his family would affect Treloar’s performance on the field.
He was unceremoniously dumped from the club and traded to the Western Bulldogs – also based in Melbourne – on the last day of the trading window in November.
A furious Ravaillion said this week her partner – who still had five seasons left on his nine-year contract with Collingwood – was mentally prepared for the move and the club needed an excuse.
‘All those sh***y lies were not the reason they got rid of him,’ she told The Courier Mail.
‘They [Collingwood] started to say to Adam, “it’s bad for your mental health, you won’t be able to handle the move” and Adam said, “that’s up to me, it’s not up to you to decide”.
Adam Treloar has lashed out at his former club Collingwood after they blamed his wife Kim’s move to Queensland as the reason for his departure
‘Then they started to blame it on me. They were making excuses for why he’s going when in actual fact they just wanted him gone. You feel like you trust someone [the club] and then it all goes.’
Collingwood’s reasoning of questioning Trelaor’s form should his partner move interstate was done just as the club’s players had returned from an interstate Covid hub so the AFL season could finish.
Though Ravaillion went with Treloar, the club had no qualms about other players who were separated from their partners dropping in form.
She said the pair had discussed her return to netball after the birth of their daughter and the possibility of moving interstate and that Treloar was 100 per cent supportive.
When he was eventually traded to the Bulldogs the netballer said they both felt massive relief at being clear of the controversy, and are keen to spend the next 12 months focused on being new parents and playing the sports they love.
‘I think it could have been handled a lot better… I wish he was a bit more well respected in what he gave to the club and him as a person, I think he was treated pretty poorly,’ she previously told the Herald Sun.
‘It wasn’t his choice, but in the end it got to a point where he just didn’t want to go back to a club that treated him like that.
‘The fact they’ve (Collingwood) used me as a scapegoat because I am going to Queensland is pretty sad,’ she said.
Super Netball club NSW Swifts took aim at a Melbourne newspaper in November over the media storm surrounding Ravaillion.
Super Netball side NSW Swifts fired up with an angry post over the treatment of a rival player
The Swifts took aim at a Melbourne newspaper over this social media post describing the netballer as a WAG
Kim Ravaillion (pictured in Super Netball action) is a talented sportswoman in her own right
‘Good to see the boys club is alive and well Hang your heads in shame Melbourne football media… Time we all called this out,’ the Swifts posted on Saturday while sharing a screenshot of the post, which has since been deleted.
The Swifts were flooded with support from fans of both genders.
‘Well done for calling this out when Kim isn’t even playing for you. Women competing on court supporting off court,’ one woman wrote.
Former Australian netballer Bianca Chatfield showed her support by retweeting the post.
Netball New Zealand board member Shane Harmon added: ‘We have a long way to go if this is how Melbourne’s major media outlet belittle women in sport. Her name is Kim Ravaillon. She is a world champion netballer having played 60 times for her country. Be better than this.’
Australian netball great Liz Ellis also weighed into the debate by condemning the treatment of Ravaillon.
‘She’s an absolute superstar who has been treated appallingly through this process and really devalued in terms of her contribution to Australian sport,’ she said on Sports Sunday.
Treloar himself previously expressed his bitter disappointment in how things at the Magpies played out externally back in November.
‘The way they went about it kind of hurt. I wish I could have finished my career at Collingwood, that’s the honest truth.’
‘They were adamant that they had to move me on… they genuinely thought I wasn’t going to manage being away from my family.’
Treloar was keen to stay at Collingwood, despite the prospect of being separated from his wife and baby girl (pictured together)
He also claimed Magpies coach Nathan Buckley called him to inform him the senior playing group no longer wanted him at the club, which Buckley has previously denied.
‘That was told to me in no uncertain way and that did hurt, because I know how close I am with the players,’ Treloar said.
‘To be told that, when I don’t think that’s the truth, and to be told that there’s some players that don’t want you there when I know the majority of the players love me and care for me, that did hurt a bit.
‘But they were adamant on moving me on so no matter how they were going to go about it, it was going to happen. It was a fight up until the end, because I wanted to be at Collingwood.’