Eddie McGuire recalls funny incident when he visited Travis Cloke’s family home

COLLINGWOOD president Eddie McGuire has recounted the day he visited the Cloke household to sign up Travis Cloke and got the biggest shock of his life.

Travis Cloke speaks to the media after announcing his retirement. Picture: Getty Images

COLLINGWOOD president Eddie McGuire has recounted the day he visited the Cloke household to sign up Travis Cloke and found himself face-to-face with a horse.

The Magpies were eager for the animal-loving Travis to join older brothers Jason and Cameron at the club, with Richmond also pursuing the young forward as a father-son draftee.

They weren’t taking anything for granted with the Tigers also in contact with the Cloke family, so McGuire, football manager Neil Blame and chief executive Greg Swann decided to meet with the Clokes at their acreage Park Orchards family home.

GLENN McFARLANE: PIES CAN THANK CLOKE FOR 2010 FLAG

RETIREMENT: CLOKE REVEALS TOLL OF SOCIAL MEDIA HATE

It was the day after McGuire hosted the 2003 Logies and he woke up the following morning feeling like “I’ve had my head kicked in”.

McGuire knew they needed to convince Travis’ father David, a two-time premiership player and captain of Richmond and Collingwood player that the Magpies were the right fit for his son.

A young Travis Cloke at home with his pets that included a cockatoo, kitten dog, ponies and a turtle.

The meeting was going as expected until McGuire received one of the biggest shocks of his life.

“David is a very good negotiator so he’s geeing up Richmond because he qualifies for father-son (at both clubs),” McGuire said on Triple M this morning.

“So this was the big day. We go out to the Cloke household and I’m feeling like I’m jet lagged. So we sit down and Julie (mum) is there.

“It’s all going on. There is a lot of conversation, the only person not in the room is Travis, we’ve got the two sisters, the two brothers, everyone is in the place.

“I zoned out a little bit at one stage and the room went quiet and I look up and standing two feet in front of me, literally, is a horse.

“The horse had become so domesticated that it used to let itself in and grab an apple.

“There’s Mr Ed looking at Mr Ed. Everyone is laughing — not at the horse but at my reaction — not thinking this is a normal thing.

“So the horse turns around, leaves a couple of hoof marks on the carpet and walks out the door. I’ve gone ‘Am I hallucinating here. What have they put in my coffee?”

McGuire and Travis Cloke at training.

But the surprises didn’t end there.

“So I sit there a bit longer and there is another pause and I feel this feeling on my ankles,” he said.

“I look down and there are two turtles sticking their heads up the leg of my pants.

“I’ve gone ‘This bloke better be able to play’.”