David Cloke says meeting with Collingwood in two week will determine Travis Cloke’s future
A MEETING in two weeks will determine whether Travis Cloke remains at Collingwood, according to his father and manager David Cloke.
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A MEETING in two weeks will determine whether Travis Cloke remains at Collingwood, according to his father and manager David Cloke.
Cloke Sr, who said he had only spoken briefly with his son in the wake of his five-goal performance in the VFL on the weekend, said no decision will be made on the two-time All-Australian’s future until the pivotal talks are held.
Cloke is contracted to the Magpies for next season, but speculation linking Cloke, 29, to other clubs — including the Western Bulldogs — is growing.
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But Cloke Sr — who maintained he had heard no such trade talk — said no decision has been made.
“He’s contracted to Collingwood for next year and I’d say what will happen is, they’ve got two more games to go and in a couple of weeks’ time he’ll sit down with the club and have a chat to them and see where they believe he sits with them and what happens from here,” he told the Herald Sun from Alice Springs.
“Then he’ll probably sit down and make a decision on what goes on there.
“At the moment, he’s contracted to Collingwood for next year and what he wants to do, as he’s done all the way along since he made the commitment four years ago, is that he wanted to be at Collingwood. He’s enjoyed the place.
”At the moment is he’s contracted to Collingwood for next season. And that’s where he wants to stay. He wants to do that.
“No one enjoys getting dropped, but he’s gone back and played well and we’ll see what happens this week.”
If Cloke plays in the VFL on Saturday against Box Hill, he will qualify to play finals for Collingwood’s flag fancy second-tier outfit.
If he is selected at AFL level for Saturday night’s clash with Gold Coast, he will be ineligible to feature in the VFL finals.
Premiership Magpie Mick McGuane said that he believed the forward will not be a part of Collingwood’s outfit next season.
“With (coach) Nathan Buckley’s directive right now, I’m saying no,” McGuane said on RSN.
“You can see that Bucks probably thinks that Travis isn’t in the scheme of things based on his decision earlier in the year (to drop him).
“To be dropped three times in one year, when you’re the marquee forward (and) on good money, I’m not sure whether or not he’s got the patience that is required for him to turn it around.”
Cloke Sr, who played 114 games for Collingwood and captained Richmond, would not be drawn on whether he hopes his son stays at Collingwood, where he has played since he was drafted under the father-son rule at the end of 2005, or his own feelings on the saga.
“It doesn’t matter how I feel. It doesn’t affect me,” Cloke Sr said.
“Again, it’s his decision with talks with them (Collingwood) and what goes on from there.”
Cloke Sr manages his son in concert with Robbie D’Orazio from Connors Sports.
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said the current situation does “not at all” mean that Cloke’s time at the club is up.
He said the Western Bulldogs’ defensive setup played a large part in the forward being dropped this week, and that the team’s attack will likely stay the same against the Suns this week.
“It was relatively positive for us as senior level, but Trav’s performance at VFL level was encouraging,” he said on Fox Footy.
“When you play like that, you put yourself in the mix. We deliberately went in smaller on an Etihad (Stadium) ground where we know there’s speed and agility – bit more of a running side. It’s unlikely that we’ll go into this game much different given that were on the same ground.
“Not at all (is his time up at Collingwood) – he’s contracted next year and we expect him to honour that, really.
“I think he’ll play better footy than he has this year going forward, and if you look at our depth of our talls, we need to have a real look at that. We need Trav to be playing his best footy.”
When asked point blank whether Cloke would be at the club in 2017, Buckley offered two words.
“He’s contracted,” he said.
Buckley is adamant that no one player is bigger than the team.
“It’s not the Travis Cloke footy club. It’s not the Scott Pendlebury footy club. It’s the Collingwood Football Club,” he said.
“The players are there for the team – not vice versa.”
Collingwood ruled out Taylor Adams (ankle), Ben Reid (knee) and Ben Sinclair (concussion) for the rest of the season.
Adams, 22, is unlikely to require surgery, Magpies football boss Neil Balme said, while the course of action for Reid is yet to be determined.
“Obviously (Reid) has been able to get through a fair bit of the season with that, but now it’s not worth taking the risk,” Balme said.
Originally published as David Cloke says meeting with Collingwood in two week will determine Travis Cloke’s future
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