Travis Cloke, like Western Bulldogs, not outstanding but do enough to beat Collingwood

TRAVIS Cloke — much like the Western Bulldogs — wasn’t outstanding but did enough to ensure a Round 1 win over a gallant Collingwood at the MCG.

Travis Cloke celebrates the Bulldogs win with Marcus Bontempelli and Liam Picken.

IT WAS the moment of truth that has sat with Travis Cloke for the best part of six months, and has almost certainly kept him awake between dawn and the witching hour of doubt.

Twenty-five minutes into his first game with the Western Bulldogs — in his 247th AFL match — Cloke clutched the Sherrin and looked down at it as if it was a talisman, 50 metres out from goal at the city end.

Perspiration and the pressure of the moment seemed to drip down his face. The man who was said to have played football last year with “the fog of fear” holding him back in front of goal faced his first big test in new colours, and the cacophony of boos from those who used to cheer him only added to the drama.

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If the ball had been a missile in Cloke’s hands, no one in the front rows of the Ponsford Stand would have truly felt safe before he took his kick. He came in slowly, the eyes of 66,254 fans fixed so intently on him that he couldn’t have helped but feel them watching and waiting.

Last year, in Collingwood colours, he might have melted.

On Friday night, he sunk into the ball with his powerful left foot and it sailed through the goals, immediately silencing the roar that accompanied it on its way.

Travis Cloke celebrates his first goal as a Bulldog. Picture: Michael Klein

His arms raised, double cobra-like, his mouth wide open, and his jittery nerves abated — at least for the time being. His new teammates, sensing the importance of the kick not just in the context of the game, but in Cloke’s own future, charged in one and all to embrace him.

The 30-year-old’s look of relief contrasted with the look of despair on face of the Collingwood cheersquad, most notably ‘Joffa’ Corfe, who shook his head forlornly.

Cloke’s brother, Jason, another former Magpie, clearly didn’t like the black and white boos, posting on his Instagram page: “Well done Collingwood boo a bloke that gives you 12 years of sweat and tears ... and was made to go then you boo him, kill them bro @travis13cloke.”

One moment doesn’t change anything, nor does one match define a season for a club or an individual. And, yes, Cloke did miss a chance to seal the game late when it was technically still alive, but he showed enough glimpses to give hope that a career that seemed derailed last year still has some life in it.

Travis Cloke celebrates after the game with Marcus Bontempelli and Liam Picken.

Even he knows he won’t reach the same heights that took him to a Copeland Trophy, two All-Australians and more than 440 goals, but the Bulldogs believe he can play a role in their title defence this season alongside the returning Stewart Crameri.

Cloke wasn’t outstanding, but he showed enough in Friday night’s 14-point win over a determined and desperate Collingwood in what was an intriguing Round 1 contest.

The Dogs didn’t lose any admirers; but neither did the Magpies, who at times took the game right up to their opponents.

Collingwood’s first six weeks of 2017 had long been billed as the AFL’s equivalent of one of those ‘slasher movies’ so renown for blood and gore. Games against the Bulldogs, Richmond, Sydney, St Kilda, Essendon and Geelong were meant to define their season, and coach Nathan Buckley’s tenure as coach.

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley talks to his players at three-quarter time.

But led superbly by the best afield Scott Pendlebury, and charged by a midfield rated by many as the best in the competition, including Steele Sidebottom and Adam Treloar, the Magpies were super competitive and at times looked like pinching the game.

There were some good signs from Buckley’s team, even if their own forward structure lacked the finishing skills required.

They had the ball inside 50m 62 times to the Bulldogs’ 44, but just couldn’t convert when it was needed to turn the game their way.

VOTES

3. Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)

2. Jason Johannisen (Western Bulldogs)

1. Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)

BEST

Western Bulldogs: Johannisen, Bontempelli, Liberatore, Dahlhaus. Hunter, M. Boyd, Macrae, Picken, Murphy

Collingwood: Pendlebury, Sidebottom, Treloar, Howe, Fasolo, Grundy, Reid, Ramsay, Adams

Originally published as Travis Cloke, like Western Bulldogs, not outstanding but do enough to beat Collingwood