Travis Cloke dropped to the VFL to regain confidence

TRAVIS Cloke is playing as if he is in a fog of fear and that can only lift if some of the pressure is released from one of the most scrutinised players in the AFL.

Collingwood training at Olympic Park. Travis Cloke Picture:Wayne Ludbey

TRAVIS Cloke is playing as if he is in a fog of fear and that can only lift if some of the pressure is released from one of the most scrutinised players in the AFL.

That’s why he will be playing in front of around 1000 fans at Victoria Park on Sunday with the Magpies VFL side instead of a predicted 90,000 against Essendon on Anzac Day — the same stage that he debuted on 11 years ago.

Four years ago, he was one of the game’s most powerful forwards. On Sunday, the 29-year-old will be back playing in the secondary tier for the first time since he was a teenager.

The Magpies believe it is the only option to kickstart his career again that has stalled over the past three seasons, and to help him as a person they know and love.

For just as Kryptonite cruelled Superman, Cloke’s love-hate relationship with the thing he needs to do — kick goals — has sapped so much of his fragile confidence.

Add the nude photos scandal that he, Dane Swan and two other players were engulfed in earlier this year, and the pressure that goes hand-in-glove with being one of the most high-profile players at the most high-profile club in Australia has been intense.

Swan was disappointed when Women’s Day published nude “selfies” of the players, which they allegedly sent to women who were not their partners.

Cloke was devastated, as he and his fiancee were about to host an engagement party and, for a time, it put a strain on their relationship.

Travis Cloke has been dropped to the VFL. Picture: Hamish Blair

This came against a backdrop in which Cloke, an All-Australian forward in 2011 and 2013, and a premiership star in 2010, was fighting hard the demons that many key forwards have faced in dealing.

Cloke’s erratic kicking for goal has caused him duress and sapped his confidence to the point of exasperation.

The club has done everything it possibly could to restore that confidence. Psychologists, kicking coaches, support staff and even an array of techniques including having music in his ears at training in an effort to shut out the noise and distractions that make him feel as if the crowd is always watching him.

Cloke’s love-hate relationship with the thing he needs to do — kick goals — has sapped so much of his fragile confidence.

It came to a head this week when the club — and coach Nathan Buckley — decided the only course of action was to send him back to the VFL to gain some confidence.

It is understood that Cloke was not surprised with the decision, even though he said publicly this week that he hoped he had enough “tickets in the bank.”

Buckley decided otherwise, and two important reasons were believed to be at the forefront of the coach’s mind.

One, he cannot continue to judge other players in one way, and his desperately out-of-form forward in another way. That’s not fair on the rest of the group, especially when the team is struggling.

The second reason is just as important. Buckley cares about Cloke — the forward said he and his coach were mates during the week — and there is a genuine empathy for his predicament and mindset within the Collingwood Football Club.

Travis Cloke has been struggling for form. Picture: AAP

Cloke is not what he looks like.

To the outside observer, his hulking physical presence, his rough exterior and his tattoos might form an impression that he is a tough, gruff character.

But to those who know him, and care for him, he is far removed from that stereotype.

He is a sensitive soul who cares about his footy and cares just as much about his footy club.

But against that he is one of the highest-paid players at Collingwood, and when others earning significantly less are producing more, the hard call had to be made.

Cloke was almost dropped for the St Kilda and Melbourne games, but the coach kept his faith, hoping that a five-goal haul might reprogram his mind, and see him turn back to the clock to when he was the AFL template for the power forward.

He kicked two goals in each game, but was still a shadow of the player he can be.

Physically, Cloke is fine. The belief is, if he can regain the positive mindset once more, and not be so distracted by the people watching him as he lines up for goal, he can once more be a force in the game.

Certainly, there would be enough rival clubs prepared to give up a high second round draft pick — and maybe more — to get him.

He is contracted to Collingwood until the end of next year, and there is no suggestion that he wants out or the club doesn’t want him.

In fact, Collingwood knows, at least in the short term, it cannot play finals without him in good form again.

Darcy Moore is a future star, but will still take time to get there. Mason Cox is a project player of good potential, Corey Gault has shown flickers of hope and Jesse White has all but had a pen ruled through this name.

But the rider with all that is that if Cloke can’t win his spot back quickly, and can’t learn to deal with the pressure that he has endured at Collingwood all these years, he might be forced to look elsewhere — as much for himself as anything else.

For the moment though, the coach wants him back — and wants him firing — as quickly as possible, and that pathway comes at 2pm at Victoria Park today.