According to recent news reports, the Adelaide Crows have joined the race to sign Travis Cloke along with GWS, Melbourne, Carlton and Fremantle.
But considering the Crows’ cap position, could they really be in the running for a player of Cloak’s calibre?
This raises a lot of talk that Adelaide Crows forward Kurt Tippett could be going to Brisbane and after losing Mitch Clark to the Dees, Brisbane will do anything to get Tippett.
But my main question is why are the Crows so keen on getting Cloke? If Tippett leaves it would open up space in the salary cap to give a pay rise to guys like Patrick Dangerfield, Scott Thompson, Taylor Walker and a lot of others.
It would also give an opportunity to guys like Lewis Johnston, the former Sydney Swans player who got traded to the Crows last year and has been in spectacular form with SANFL side North Adelaide.
He is coming second so far as the league’s leading goal kicker, with 38 goals.
Another Crows rookie who has been in great SANFL this year is Tim McIntyre, who has kicked 38 goals and is coming equal second with Johnston on the leaderboard.
McIntyre has played one AFL game this year, against Port Adelaide, kicking two goals.
Travis Cloke has been in average form this year. He has only kicked 42 goals. I still think he is a great player but not worth all that money. There are many more players out there that the Crows should be interested in.
If I was GWS I would not be going after the Cloke because that could interfere with the development of future gun forwards Jon Patton and Jeremy Cameron.
I think either Fremantle or Carlton would be the best club for Cloke. With Matthew Pavlich only about two to four years away from retiring, he would slot brilliantly into the Freo side.
He would also be a good fit for Carlton. He would get great delivery from Judd, Murphy and Simpson and Carlton only have the one key forward Jarred Waite.
Is he really worth all that money? Not on this year’s form.
Where will he end up? My bet is the Dockers.
brendan
Guest
The Cloke that plays for the next three odd years is definetely worth pursuing.Apparently he wants a five year deal and IMO no position on the ground does a player drop off like centre half forward later in there careers.Brereton was an irresistable force with Hawthorn in the early part of his career but by the end of it his performances at Collingwood and Sydney were a shadow of what he was.Equally Carey , arguably the player of the nineties, tailed off drastically towards the latter part of his career.A sude who thinks they are on the cusp of a flag should pursue him otherwise the length of his contract should be a deterrent.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
He is extremely overrated however he's lucky to be playing in an era with very few high-quality power forwards (who are also in the prime of their career).
scarf
Guest
Cloke is an exceptional player but I'd rather have drew petrie.
rory_s
Roar Rookie
Cloke is to hot and cold. Any club that takes him is runnig a huge risk. Especially if they heavily rely on him.
William Goat
Guest
Sometimes I see him play & wonder how he gets a game, other times I wish he was playing for my team ( Carlton), so I'll definitely be happy to see him running out for the Blues at whatever price & hope we see more of the dominator than the guy who struggles to kick straight.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
A big, burly gorlilla in your forward line changes the way the game is played - its someone the defence must account for, with a player who can physically match up on them. If you dont have such a player, then you need to use soemone to stand on them, and someone to cover the space. This gives your team a one man advantage in the midfield. Note how Sydney and the Western Bulldogs were so much more successful with a big, burly targetup front. Players who can tag a star midfielder, on the other hand, are a lot more common. Cloke also has a premium because he is a free agent - he only costs cap room, not cap room and draft picks. So, yes, Cloke does get a choice as to where he plays, and he'll get the length of contract he wants.