On the final night of the AFL trade period, November 12th, 2020, Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley described the day as the hardest of his football life — a quiet admission that something painful had been done in the name of necessity. Four contracted players, including the high-profile Adam Treloar, departed the club in exchange for returns that felt, to many, like pennies on the dollar. In the broader human story of sport, it was a familiar tension: the cold arithmetic of institutional survival colliding with the warm loyalties of players, fans, and community.
Buckley calls trade deadline 'toughest day' as Collingwood fire sale leaves fans fuming
Managing contracted players who love the environment out of the club is a lose/lose situation
Mark
So Buckley called it his toughest day in footy. What exactly happened on that deadline night?
Mimi
Four players left in a matter of hours. Treloar, Stephenson, Phillips, Bosenavulagi. All gone. And Collingwood got back almost nothing—a first-round pick and a future second-rounder. That's the whole haul.
Luke
Wait. They traded four contracted players and netted essentially one pick in the current draft? That seems like the kind of thing that needs context. Were these guys all demanding out, or was the club pushing them?
Mimi
The Treloar situation had been brewing for three weeks. His friend Sam Darley said he was treated embarrassingly, though Treloar himself was happy to be at the Bulldogs. So it wasn't clean.
Mark
And Buckley said it was necessary. What was the necessity?
Mimi
Salary cap space. The club needed to clear room, and these were contracted players who wanted to leave. Buckley called it a "lose/lose situation in the short term."
Luke
But here's what I'm not clear on: did the club have to move all four? Or did they choose to? Because there's a difference between "we had to" and "we decided to."
Mimi
That's the question the fans were asking. Ned Guy, the list boss, defended it on air, but nobody seemed convinced. The skepticism was real.
Mark
What did the supporters actually say?
Mimi
Angry. Flat. Peter Helliar, a famous Collingwood supporter and comedian, said he'd never felt worse as a fan. He wanted the club to explain the master plan to the members.
Luke
So the club's argument is that this clears space for future moves. But they haven't shown the members what those future moves are. They're asking people to trust a plan that hasn't been revealed yet.
Mimi
Exactly. And after three weeks of Treloar drama and a deadline day fire sale, trust was in short supply.
El Pulso
- Collingwood shed four contracted players on AFL trade deadline day, receiving only a first-round pick and a future second-rounder — a return widely seen as far below the players' worth.
- The Treloar saga had simmered for three weeks before resolving in the final minutes, with his friend Sam Darley publicly declaring the process 'embarrassing' and hinting that the full story had yet to surface.
- Coach Nathan Buckley and list boss Ned Guy attempted to frame the moves as necessary salary cap surgery, but their explanations landed with almost no one — fans, analysts, and former players alike rejected the logic.
- Former Magpies Dale Thomas and Dane Swan used social media to mock the club's trade haul, while analyst Kate Salemme highlighted the contradiction of trading away a pick-6 draftee for future second-rounders.
- Lifelong supporter and comedian Peter Helliar gave voice to the broader grief, saying he had never felt so flat as a Pies fan and calling on the club to explain itself honestly to its members.
On the final night of the AFL trade period, November 12th, 2020, Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley described the day as the hardest of his football life — a quiet admission that something painful had been done in the name of necessity. Four contracted players, including the high-profile Adam Treloar, departed the club in exchange for returns that felt, to many, like pennies on the dollar. In the broader human story of sport, it was a familiar tension: the cold arithmetic of institutional survival colliding with the warm loyalties of players, fans, and community.
Nathan Buckley took to Twitter late on November 12th, 2020, to say it plainly: this was his toughest day in football. By the time the AFL trade deadline had passed, four Collingwood players — Adam Treloar, Jaidyn Stephenson, Tom Phillips, and Atu Bosenavulagi — were gone, and the Magpies had received little more than a first-round pick and a future second-rounder in return.
The Treloar chapter had been the most bruising. A three-week media saga had surrounded his exit, and his move to the Western Bulldogs wasn't confirmed until the final moments of the trade period. His friend and former teammate Sam Darley responded publicly, saying that while Treloar was settling in happily at his new club, the way the situation had been handled was 'embarrassing.' Darley suggested more details would eventually emerge.
Buckley defended the decisions as unavoidable — managing contracted players who wanted to leave was always going to be a lose-lose in the short term, he said. List boss Ned Guy echoed that position in a tense Fox Footy interview, arguing the picks acquired would help Collingwood find key position talent. Few were convinced.
Former players piled on. Dane Swan posted a mocking meme. Dale Thomas drew a sardonic comparison between Guy's trade negotiations and schoolyard lunchbox swaps. Analyst Kate Salemme noted the uncomfortable irony of trading away Stephenson — a pick-6 selection in 2017 — for future second-rounders.
Perhaps the most human response came from comedian Peter Helliar, a devoted Collingwood supporter, who wrote that even allowing for the possibility of some hidden master plan, he had never felt so deflated following his club. He asked, simply, that the Magpies explain themselves to the people who had always believed in them.
Nathan Buckley sat with the weight of it on Thursday night, November 12th, 2020, as the AFL trade deadline ticked toward midnight. Four players—Adam Treloar, Jaidyn Stephenson, Tom Phillips, and Atu Bosenavulagi—were leaving Collingwood in what amounted to a fire sale. The Magpies' haul in return was thin: essentially one first-round pick and a future second-rounder. Buckley, the club's coach, reached for his phone and typed what he was feeling into Twitter: "My toughest day in footy....bar none."
The Treloar situation had been the loudest part of the noise. For three weeks, the media had churned through the story of his departure—the negotiations, the back-and-forth, the uncertainty. On deadline day itself, his move to the Western Bulldogs wasn't confirmed until the final minutes of the trade period. Sam Darley, Treloar's friend and a former teammate at the Giants, posted his own reaction on social media. Treloar was happy at his new club, Darley said, but the process had been rough. "As much as it's a business the way he was treated was embarrassing," Darley wrote. He hinted that more would come out eventually—"one day all will be revealed." For now, though, Treloar was a Bulldog, and Collingwood was smaller.
Buckley tried to explain the logic in his statement. The club had needed to move contracted players who wanted out, he said, and that was always going to be unpopular. "Managing contracted players who love the environment out of the club is a lose/lose situation in the short term," he wrote. "The decisions aren't popular but they were necessary." He wished all four departing players well. The message was clear enough: this hurt, but it had to happen. The club's list boss, Ned Guy, defended the strategy during a tense interview on Fox Footy's Trading Day program, though his explanations seemed to satisfy almost no one.
The fan reaction was swift and unforgiving. Dane Swan, a former Collingwood player, posted a meme of the club's final hours of trading—a visual joke at their expense. Dale Thomas, another ex-Magpie, took a sharper shot at Guy, sarcastically comparing the trade negotiations to childhood lunchbox swaps. Kate Salemme, an AFL analyst, pointed out the apparent contradiction: Collingwood had drafted Stephenson at pick 6 in 2017, and now they were trading him away for second-round picks, with Guy claiming those picks would help them land key position talent. The skepticism was palpable.
Peter Helliar, a comedian and lifelong Collingwood supporter, captured the emotional toll. "Love my footy club & maybe there is a master plan that will unfold ahead of us but even with that said … I have never felt this flat as a Pies supporter than right now," he wrote. He called for the club to explain itself to the members—the fans who had stuck with the team. The trade deadline had been meant to strengthen Collingwood, or at least to clear space for future moves. Instead, it had left the supporter base angry and bewildered, wondering what the plan actually was.
Citas Notables
My toughest day in footy....bar none. Managing contracted players who love the environment out of the club is a lose/lose situation in the short term.— Nathan Buckley, Collingwood coach, on Twitter
As much as it's a business the way he was treated was embarrassing. Understand it's a business but wow hope it's all told one day.— Sam Darley, Adam Treloar's friend and former teammate, on Twitter
I have never felt this flat as a Pies supporter than right now. At some point the members will need all this explained.— Peter Helliar, comedian and Collingwood supporter, on Twitter
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Economy & Finance