When the Cloke gets beyond a joke

If Collingwood are to be a legitimate contender for this year's premiership, which the composition of their list suggests is a possibility, as does playing four straight seasons of finals, then there's certain players with big reputations who really need to start delivering. Chief among them is Travis Cloke.

This is Cloke's sixth season now, a player who won Collingwood's Best and Fairest at just twenty years of age and in the same season the Pies lost a preliminary final by less than a goal. Prior to this season he was linked with a big money move to the Gold Coast and whether this was a ploy by his manager (who also happens to be Cloke's father) to secure a better deal from his current employers is unknown, yet the fact remains that few in the football world were shocked by the big forward being linked with such a move. When in reality we probably should have. And that’s a problem, because Cloke, like his team, have the potential to be a lot better than they often are.

At 196cm and more than 100kgs Cloke moves really well for his size. He does have speed, he rarely gets injured and has an excellent set of hands. No other player in the Collingwood forward line possesses his unique traits. Not many in the entire league do to be honest. However after six years at Collingwood he's failed to take advantage of his enviable attributes with the kind of regularity which defines champions. He’s never kicked more than 40 in a season, he often gets lost on the wings while most alarmingly he seems, after six years, to have done nothing to correct what’s one of the most obviously flawed kicking actions in the game. An action which in his early years appeared awkward and clumsy but which we thought would be ironed out and amended. It hasn’t and Cloke’s still no better than a 50/50 proposition in front of goal. When he gets it front of goal.

After 103 games, Cloke's kicked 120 goals and 122 behinds with a great number missing completely or falling short. Those are poor, terribly inefficient numbers. He’s kicked 3 goals or more on just 16 occasions. In short, Cloke’s good for a good game every 6 or so matches. West Coast’s Mark LeCras, taken three spots before Cloke in the ‘04 draft and standing almost 15cm shorter, has kicked 3 or more 28 times, proving almost 20% more accurate over his career. While he’s played only 59 matches and for a team significantly worse than Collingwood.

At the rate Cloke’s going Collingwood would be thinking that if the Gold Coast are indeed prepared to offer him the kind of money being rumoured it might save them the indignity of getting rid of yet another Cloke from their club. After this long the Pies would surely be questioning whether a bidding war with the Gold Coast is at all worth the trouble for a player who is clearly letting them down.

What will happen to Travis Cloke is of course unclear however what is certain is that 2010 is a huge year for both him and his club. Both hugely talented, however if both can’t deliver this year, changes will inevitably follow. Thankfully for both they’ve a few more months to get things right.