Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge was non-committal when asked about the future of Adam Treloar on Thursday.
After Treloar played minimal minutes in the third quarter and struggled to impact in the Dogs' heavy loss on Friday night, his future has been in the spotlight.
Asked if Treloar could get back to his best, Beveridge said: “It's probably a question I don't want to give you, even if I thought no, I probably wouldn't want to say it, because he's determined to do that.
“I'm prepared to be on that optimistic ride and the previous couple of weeks, he'd been a solid contributor to a couple of good, close wins, and then in the game we just played, he struggled a bit.
“I know there was commentary about him not playing much time in the third quarter and I've done that all year with different players, he's just the one who was in the spotlight.
“He spiked a little bit in the last quarter. I'm not totally sure if he can, but he's still going…he wants to continue to see out the year so we'll work through that and work with him to help him find his best.”
Manager Tim Hazell from Vivid Sports wad equally reserved in his response to Treloar's future.
Treloar has been plagued by soft-tissue injuries in the past 18 months after a career-best season in 2024, earning him All-Australian honours.
However, the litany of injuries has limited the three-club midfielder to nine games since the beginning of last year, and his manager isn't looking too far ahead.
"At the beginning of the year, he was really focused on getting through this year and get back to playing AFL," Hazell said on AFL Media.
"His first game back, he was really emotional, because he didn't think he was going to be able to get back, but Adam's a competitor. He's a super professional athlete, and just to see him playing AFL footy has been huge.
"Does he want to play football next year? Right now, it's week by week.
"We're going to enjoy the next couple of months, get as much football under his belt as we can and then we will assess that back end of the season."
He has averaged 17 disposals this year, having been pushed out of the midfield mix.
Treloar has been away from the club this week so may miss the Sunday afternoon match against St Kilda.
“It's another question I probably can't give you an emphatic answer to, mainly because he's been crook, see how he trains today, he's battling a bit. Maybe it's a week he has off. Maybe that's a good idea,” Beveridge said when asked if he would play this weekend.
“I can't give you a definitive answer.”
Reports have indicated Treloar will be joining local footy powerhouse Noble Park, a club where he played his junior football.
The 33-year-old has played 263 games for GWS, Collingwood and the Bulldogs.
