Collingwood want more goalkicking oomph but Travis Cloke is only part of the equation.
The Magpies have two wins from four AFL games ahead of their big Easter Saturday clash against North Melbourne, putting them ninth on the ladder.
But when it comes to “points for”, they are only 12th.
“We feel like we’re a five or six out of 10 with our offence … through the first month,” said coach Nathan Buckley.
One of the reasons has been Cloke’s up-and-down start to the season – he has only kicked two goals and been held goal-less for the last two games.
“He’s been out of form – probably the Sydney game (in round two) is the only (one) where he was able to maintain a really high, consistent workrate and give us what he would expect of himself,” Buckley said.
“That’s not a high-scoring game, but it’s just the continual target that is going to be competitive in the air for us.
“I’m absolutely positive we’ll continue to get that from him.
“He wants to play better, we’d love him to play better.”
Buckley added there was a lot more to improving their attack than Cloke returning to form, saying the other forwards and also midfielders needed to be more productive in attack.
The `Pies coach wants Collingwood to become harder for opponents to defend against.
Cloke will face another major test on Saturday when he confronts Kangaroos defender Scott Thompson, who is coming off an outstanding game against Sydney where he kept star forward Lance Franklin from kicking a goal.
Floreat Pica
Guest
Its certainly been a great concern of mine that Collingwood has seemingly struggled to kick much more than 100 points this season (and last). To be honest for all the change towards the corridor, we are still too easily pushed towards the boundary line when entering 50 IMHO. No doubt the combination of Cloke, White and Reid is our most potent attack for when we can get the latter back on field, but I am a great admirer of Goldsack's tenacity and efforts he has been an understated key in many of the transition goals Collingwood has had so far this season. All said though, Elliot has clearly been the highlight of the forward line and is proving a hard matchup for defenders. One more upside of last week was seeing the spread of midfield goal kickers back after a two season absence.