Travis Cloke wants Western Bulldogs move and will void Collingwood contract to push it through

TRAVIS Cloke is prepared to take the dramatic step of voiding the final year of his lucrative contract at Collingwood to extend his football career.

Travis Cloke is pushing for a move to Western Bulldogs.

TRAVIS Cloke is prepared to take the dramatic step of voiding the final year of his lucrative contract at Collingwood to extend his football career.

Cloke will turn 30 next March and is due as much as $500,000 under the last year of a massive five-season deal signed at the peak of his powers.

But that money would be a severe impediment to him getting to his preferred home at the Western Bulldogs.

It is understood he is willing to strike a fresh new deal with the Bulldogs which would see him earning less than a third of his 2016 salary.

Travis Cloke is pushing for a move to Western Bulldogs.

Cloke is determined to reinvigorate his career and has made it known money is not a priority in him getting to a club where he can play multiple seasons.

A club cannot void a player’s contract but as long as a player agrees to that decision he can restructure his contract any way he sees fit.

That decision would be a considerable boost for Collingwood, which has already said privately it does not want to have to pay money for him to play elsewhere.

The Magpies continue to pay around $70,000 of Heath Shaw’s wage at GWS, a common practice in the AFL that has also seen the Dogs pay a large cut of Ryan Griffen’s GWS deal.

Avoiding that payment would give Collingwood more freedom to chase their trade targets, including GWS half forward Will Hoskin-Elliott.

But the flip side might be accepting a lesser draft pick in exchange, with the Dogs seemingly reluctant to hand over a second or third-round pick.

At present the Dogs do not even have a third-round pick after a swap of third and fourth-round selections last year with Carlton, holding picks 13, 31, 59, 67 and 69.

Cloke believes the Dogs represent the best chance of him rediscovering his best after a consistent dive in form for a player once the AFL’s best contested mark.

Banned forward Stewart Crameri will return next year and Tom Boyd played his best game in the ruck for the Dogs in their remarkable finals win over West Coast.

Will Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge have Travis Cloke at his disposal next year?

But with Zaine Cordy playing a defensive forward role on Thursday and Boyd and Jordan Roughead needed at times in the ruck there is still room in the Dogs forward line for another marking target.

Cloke said last week he believed coach Luke Beveridge could maximise his impact as a mobile key forward.

“I’ve enjoyed watching their (Bulldogs) footy I guess over the last two years to see how Bevo (coach Luke Beveridge) has changed their whole football club around,” he said.

“I actually haven’t spoken to Bevo as such but I’m sure in the coming weeks I will.

“They’ve got their own finals campaign at the moment and obviously going to do very well. I’ll watch them as a keen supporter as most will.

“If that’s where I do end up, they play a very exciting brand of footy and I feel like I could improve their side but also they can get the best out of me and we can work something out there.”