Travis Cloke to play for Hurstbridge in Northern Football League with brother Cameron in 2018
COLLINGWOOD premiership player Travis Cloke is returning to footy after putting pen to paper on a deal with a local club, where he’ll play alongside brother Cameron — for free.
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TRAVIS Cloke has signed a ‘love of the game contract’ and will play local footy for free alongside his brother Cameron this year.
Cloke put pen to paper with Northern Football League club Hurstbridge on Monday night, ending months of speculation he would link with the Division 1 outfit.
The former Collingwood and Western Bulldogs forward will feature in the Bridges’ nine home matches this season and is set to make his debut on April 14 against West Preston-Lakeside.
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Hurstbridge coach Trevor Little hailed the signing of the 30-year-old, who retired at the end of 2017 after booting 452 goals from 256 AFL games.
“He wasn’t sure about coming back to local footy,” Little said.
“But he came down and trained and he’s been great. He’s added a lot of value and I am sure the guys have made him feel pretty relaxed as well.”
Little said playing alongside his older brother Cameron, who has joined Hurstbridge after firing Essendon District club Jacana to a premiership, was a major lure for Travis.
“He hasn’t played footy with Cam ... I’d say since very early days at Collingwood,” he said.
“That was a big thing, playing footy with his brother again. Brayden Shaw, a friend of the family, is our skipper. That was another part.
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“After starting training it just became, ‘you know what, this is a great environment to be around’. As a coach, you get very lucky when it comes to this. It might have been the right time.”
At the 2016 Census, Hurstbridge, about 45 minutes north-east of Melbourne, had a population of 3450.
It is a figure dwarfed by the membership of Cloke’s first club Collingwood, which was about 76,000 last year.
“I am excited for the families around Hurstbridge and the community itself,” Little said.
“To be able to watch someone of Travis’ calibre run out on the field around the home games is just going to be great for the town.”
Little said Cloke would play “at least nine games”, but was no certainty to line up in the forward 50.
“I hope Cameron can play centre half back to be honest,” he quipped.
“Travis has got good running ability ... and through training and some of the runs we have had, he certainly runs well.
“There’s a possibility of us playing him on a wing for Hurstbridge which is exciting for him and could be scary for the opposition.”
Hurstbridge finished eighth last year after winning the 2016 Division 2 premiership.
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