Travis Cloke will have major impact at Western Bulldogs in 2017 AFL season, says Mick Malthouse

HE COULDN’T get a game at the AFL’s 12th-placed club, but Travis Cloke’s former coach believes the tall forward will have a major impact at the Dogs in 2017.

Travis Cloke has joined the Western Bulldogs. Picture: David Smith

HE COULDN’T get a game late last season at the AFL’s 12th-placed club, but Travis Cloke’s former coach believes the tall forward will have a major impact at the reigning premiers in 2017.

Former Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse, who coached Cloke for seven years, insists the left-footer is exactly what the Western Bulldogs need, despite 2016 being arguably the worst season of his career.

After kicking just 17 goals from 13 of a possible 22 games at the Magpies last year, Cloke was traded to the Bulldogs in exchange for Pick 76.

Luke Beveridge’s men were able to win claim a drought-breaking flag in October, despite not playing a full-time full-forward — a player such as Cloke — inside their attacking arc.

Despite their premiership success, Malthouse said a tall forward like Cloke was the perfect addition for the Dogs, whose tall forward chasm played a big role in their ladder position at the end of the home away season (seventh).

“I have no doubt he will have an impact, absolutely,” Malthouse told SEN.

“One of the things that was letting them down last year ... was the fact that they needed someone there who could contest the ball in the air and mark the football, or contest it and bring the ball to ground.

Travis Cloke is already a fan favourite among Western Bulldogs fans. Picture: David Smith

“It went in there far too often against medium-sized players and it turned out (Jake) Stringer was overwhelmed in the end because of numbers down there.

“It’s very hard to hold that back if a Cloke’s down there, because all of sudden Stringer will start to be a second-string player.”

Cloke won’t be the only addition to the Bulldogs’ forward line this season, with hybrid forward Stewart Crameri returning to the team after serving his one-year doping suspension.

Malthouse admitted he wasn’t sure if both Cloke and Crameri could play in the same forward line, but said having at least one tall target inside 50 would ease the burden on the Dogs’ brigade of small forwards.

“Certainly when you’ve got those players aiding the smaller players, it’s going to have a big impact, because the ball won’t be wasted,” Malthouse said.

“The Dogs were constantly putting the ball down there and seeing it come out. It was their fierceness that kept the football alive.

“That’s very difficult to back up, but if you’ve got someone who can catch the football — now we know he’s not a reliable kick — but nonetheless if they can have a target, he’s going to change the dynamics.”

Originally published as Travis Cloke will have major impact at Western Bulldogs in 2017 AFL season, says Mick Malthouse