So, Travis Cloke has officially asked for a trade out of Collingwood – this doesn’t come as any real surprise, but it’s something that opens up a lot of questions.
Before we get into those, though, let me give Collingwood a bit of a serve – because we all know that Cloke hasn’t really requested a trade so much as been forced out.
That’s not the way the Pies are putting it, though. There’s no doubt in my mind that Cloke would be happy to stay at Collingwood if he had been given even a mildly favourable indication that he would have his fair chance of being selected next year.
While the Pies appear to be the ones pushing Cloke to leave, they are selling the story to the media as “Cloke’s choice”, when the reality is that they’ve given him only one choice.
North Melbourne have copped a lot of flack for not masquerading as if Brent Harvey and company’s delisting was a phoney retirement, but at least they were honest about what was really happening.
Personally, I reckon it’s pretty gutless behaviour to spend all season trying to force out a player who loves the club, only to act as if it was their choice alone when they finally get the message and ask for a trade.
A statement along the lines of “We gave Travis a pretty strong indication that we didn’t expect there to be room for him in the team next year and as a result he has elected to explore opportunities elsewhere” would be significantly more respectful towards a player who has given them 12 years and 246 games of service.
That’s enough out of me on that subject though, so let’s turn to the real topic at hand which is, just where will Cloke look to move?
There are three clubs being consistently mentioned as interested in Cloke at the moment and those are Richmond, the Western Bulldogs, and North Melbourne.
The Tigers are likely to see Tyrone Vickery leave the club this year – in more or less the same circumstances that will see Cloke leave Collingwood – and so will certainly be in the market for another key forward to pair with Jack Riewoldt.
I can’t say I feel Cloke would be a good fit there though, for reasons discussed when the Cloke to Richmomd rumour most recently came up, however my gut feel is that Richmond is probably his most likely destination at this stage.
North Melbourne seems like a bizarre potential destination on the face of it. Cloke would to some degree be in keeping with the Roos’ strategy of years past in recruiting mature talent, but they’ve actively said they’re abandoning that to focus on blooding youth.
I’ll be honest, if the North Melbourne list management team thinks there isn’t room for Brent Harvey on the list but there is room for Travis Cloke, I’ll lose my lunch.
Personally, I suspect that the best chance Cloke has of reviving his career and becoming close to the A-grade player he once was is with the Western Bulldogs.
There’s no doubting that wherever he goes, Cloke is not going to be good enough to hold down a spot if he doesn’t find some way to improve on his 2016 form.
This move to another club has to be a transformative experience for him and surely the best chance of that is to move to a club on the rise with strikingly different philosophies to his current mob – the Bulldogs.
Luke Beveridge and Nathan Buckley appear to be very different coaches in terms of the way they interact with their players, and the standard of footskills among the Dogs is enormously better than at Collingwood.
If Cloke is to turn his career around, my bet is that the Western Bulldogs are the club to do it with.
One other rumour that has popped up yesterday is that Brisbane Lions skipper Tom Rockliff is likely to lose the club captaincy ahead of the 2017 season, opening the door to the possibility that he might look to move clubs.
Rockliff has already been linked pretty heavily to both the St Kilda Saints and the Adelaide Crows this season, both of which would love to have another prolific contested ball winner of Rockliff’s quality.
Personally, I reckon dropping Rockliff from the captaincy would be a poor decision on the Lions’ behalf, and they should look to give him more support and mentoring rather than usher him out of what is one of the most difficult positions to hold in the AFL right now.
The view of what to do might be clearer from inside their four walls, though. We’ll be keeping an eye on this one going forward.
What happens regarding Rockliff could play a big factor in Adelaide’s decision on whether or not to offer a new contract to veteran midfielder Scott Thompson.
33-year-old Thompson is out of contract at the end of 2016 and the Crows are yet to announce whether or not he will be given an opportunity to stay with the club next year.
It’s been reported that Melbourne may offer him a deal to join them in 2017, which he will probably only consider if the Crows say no.
That would be a rather ironic turn of events given that his career actually started at Melbourne, where he played 39 games in four years before joining Adelaide head of the 2005 season.
He has played 263 games for the Crows since, and would be the first player since Adam McPhee (Fremantle-Essendon-Fremantle) and Chis Tarrant (Collingwood-Fremantle-Collingwood) to pull the old get-a-trade-then-get-a-trade-back.
Other news coming through is that Fremantle’s Zac Clarke is, as expected, a strong chance to move clubs through free agency as he continues to remain low in the pecking order behind Aaron Sandilands.
Tricky
Guest
Not convinced the dog's could turn Trav around, if you remember in his heyday he was getting silver service at minimum +50 inside 50s (slight exaggeration) every game but he was still kicking 70 goals 100 + behinds (add 20 oob). I'm not so sure the dogs are able deliver that much forward entry regularly or any team currently for that matter If I were a betting man, he'll fit somewhere where he can push up to the wing take contested ball and deliver into forward 50 and occasionally pinch hit forward - this is what Collingwood should've used him for next year and traded White instead. I don't think it's a done deal at the kennel and I don't think he's good for the dogs as much as they would be for him, in any case I'm tippin a big pay cut from his current salary level with the pies doing some payout of the coffers
Penster
Guest
There'd be a stampede on Arden St and not from an elephant this time if they disposed of 4 oldies past their prime for another (getting) oldie, past his prime. He's a poor man's Roughead, but I wouldn't mind him at Hawthorn for the right price, got a big body that can take a few bumps and ruck.
Slane
Guest
Vickery is one of my least favourite players on the Richmond list because he has broken my heart so many times. Kicking 4 goals one week and dropping chest marks the next. It's ridiculous. I'm sure he will fulfill his potential elsewhere and come back to haunt us. He will probably knock is out of a final with a kick after the siren.
Macca
Guest
True but he doesn't have much exposed form to go on - there are some really interesting players in the trade market this year, Vickery, Marchbank, O'meara are all hard to value for various reasons. The blues are heavily linked to Marchbank but his size is a bit of an issue for me - we need a big defender to push out ROwe and compliment Weitering and Plowman - neither of whom a massive - not sure Marchbank at 193cm is the right fit.
Ian Morrison
Guest
Seriously though, he has a big upside if fit. Could be what the Pies are looking for in defense. Witts?
Ian Morrison
Guest
As little as possible.
Macca
Guest
Caleb Marchbank just announced he wants out of GWS - what do you give up for a high draft pick with just 2 games in 2 years to his name?
Paul D
Roar Guru
Yeah, I think Richmond are making a mistake by letting him go, personally. He has turned into a pretty good shot for goal and as you say, any limitations he currently has can more than likely be rectified by better coaching.
Bill
Guest
Collingwood have not edged cloke out..........................So you think the Bulldogs are Clokes best chance at regaining his lost form- crap. Beveridge demands the best out of his players and he will not hesitate for one moment to Drop Travis Cloke to the reserves if he plays like he has at Collingwood for the past 3 years .so Cloke could be commiting footy suicide if he goes to Bulldogs and ends up in the Reserves.........Having his father as an agent is of no help to Cloke either. He was an integral part of our plans moving fiorward but what you fail to understand is that Travis is a confidence player as soon as he drops in confidence he loses form.........Maybe being paid $850000 each year for the past 4 years with a low output kicking goals he needed to repay the club back did he NO.........Clokes off field discretions earlier this year did not help between his ears. A club cannot pay $850 k per year to a forward who cannot kick straight it nearly cost us a flag in 2010. The way out fpr Cloke was to stay at the Pies regain his form next year lose some weight to become more mobile and he would have gotten a payment extension...But his fathers way out was to shop him around to other clubs to get an extra year on his contract........Plus people seem to forget he is still a contracted player if collingwood are not happy with the deal Cloke is stuck at Collingwood where he rightfully belongs.
Slane
Guest
Vickery is a very smart person. He is/was studying law part time while playing for the Tigers and has always been a high achiever scholastically. He should be able to learn the Hawthorn game plan and running patterns very quickly. If Clarkson can instill some hunger into Vickery he could be a halfway decent forward. As it stands he is useless when the ball hits the ground, useless if his defender gets any body contact on him and useless if you expect a second effort from him. He definitely doesn't play like he is over 2m tall. He needs somebody to tell him to try again with even more intensity instead of flopping for a free kick.
Pumping Dougie
Guest
Colin, "your own squalid little site" that you just happened to read and be interested in and comment upon. Cheer up Colin. Buckley and the Pies have been treated pretty leniently by the media and general football industry this year.
Birdman
Guest
Vickery is a restricted FA so Richmond can block any deal by matching the salary offer. I don't think they will as no-one at Richmond seems to be particularly worried about his possible departure but the clubs might decide to do a steak knives type trade between themselves just so everyone looks like they played nice. The Hun reporting a 3 year deal on the table from the Hawks which I think will be confirmed in due course. The Hawks can make him better.
Jack
Guest
Just to clarify Richmond can not trade vickery as he is a free agent? Richmond get nothing ?
Kavvy
Guest
"Gutless" is a bit extreme, Was Cloke completely dominating in the VFL and still getting left out? No, no he wasn't. If he was killing it but not getting selected there'd be much more ground for the massive whack you've given Collingwood to open the article. Also I haven't heard anyone seriously touting North and Richmond as options (mentioned but not seriously) whereas the dogs are getting mentioned tonnes by all major AFL media as a likely destination
Don Freo
Guest
Nothing wrong with Vickery's kicking. A bit of a sharp shooter.
Pumping Dougie
Guest
Correct. From Collingwood's perspective, they would be able to replace a player on their list who they have little regard for, with another player and have the Bulldogs effectively pay the cost of that other player (i.e. The Pies would save $200k from Clokes contract that the Bullfigs have to pay, and the Pies could redirect this to a new player). Win-win. As for the comparisons between Buckley and Beveridge - SPARE ME!!
Slane
Guest
Those people would be world class clowns though wouldn't they?
Colin Wood
Guest
What's even more gutless is guessing without any hard evidence that Collingwood pushed him out and then splashing it publicly to further your own squalid little site, some would argue cowardly!
Brian
Guest
In that case why would the Dogs with Crameri, Stringer & Boyd (plus I assume Redpath will return in season 2017) want Cloke?
Paul D
Roar Guru
Sure, but that's a big if. They guy is 26 and has a chip on his shoulder the size of Russ Hinze. And we don't have a lot of time for him to reinvent himself. He's gone downhill this year, ever since his mate Jack Redden left he hasn't enjoyed his time at the club as much, has enjoyed his time at the pub a lot more, and being a loyal bloke he will see out 2017 with us then take off as well. I won't blame him either, he has given his all for a long time and if he's no longer captain there's not much motive for him to stick it out any further.