Welcome to the Western Bulldogs: Travis Cloke

[bulldogtragic]

Trav looks trimmed down a fair bit already. I think we are going to see a 'new' sort of player than the old style KPP (also bereft of confidence by Buckley). Also, Macrae is a fairly tall and well built player, but he looks like a little kid against Trav.

[1eyedog]

I thought that last year at training when a 6'5 Fletcher Roberts looked like a kid brother next to Tom Boyd.

[Twodogs]

I thought that last year at training when a 6'5 Fletcher Roberts looked like a kid brother next to Tom Boyd.

6'5" premiership player Fletcher Roberts and fellow .premiership player Tom Boyd.

[LostDoggy]

6'5" premiership player Flether Ronerts and fellow .premiership player Tom Boyd.

Premiership player? Premiership hero.

[1eyedog]

Premiership player? Premiership hero.

Premiership hero? Premiership legend!

[Twodogs]

I just love saying premiership.

[1eyedog]

I love you saying it too.

[bulldogtragic]

According to the club website, Trav is jumper number 0...

http://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/te...rofiles/senior

[choconmientay]

Travis Cloke will be an asset for Western Bulldogs, says list manager Jason McCartney

JON RALPH, Herald Sun
December 2, 2016 6:50pm

TRAVIS Cloke has been told he must only return to his pack-crashing form of past seasons to become a roaring success at the Western Bulldogs.

The former Collingwood star has been training with his new club for the past week as the full Dogs’ list prepares to return on Monday.

Cloke endured a horror year, dropped three times and engulfed in a nude picture scandal at the start of the season.

His fiance Rebeccah Panozza referenced that scandal in a social media tweet this week ahead of their New Year’s Eve wedding.

”I’m not going to sugar-coat it, it’s been a tough year but it’s an absolute credit to our love and friendship that we’ve gotten over every hurdle,’’ she posted.

The critics have wondered if Cloke’s best football is behind him and questioned if he has a role to play at the reigning premiers.

But Bulldogs list manager Jason McCartney says Cloke should prove critical in stopping the intercept marks that could have hurt the Dogs’ premiership tilt.

At his best Cloke has been a contested marking beast but even if he can bring the ball to ground for the Dogs crumbers he will have earned his modest wage.

The Dogs believe they cannot lose with Cloke given he is on a salary of just $200,000 and was traded from the Pies with selection 76.

His father David said Travis was thrilled to be throwing himself into a fresh challenge.

McCartney said this week the Dogs believed Cloke was an ideal recruit given their list needs.

“We are really light on in that area. We have drafted some kids in that areas last week but when Jack Redpath went down with his knee we needed to bring in someone who could play now,’’ he said.

“What stood out when our ball movement got slowed down, in the GWS preliminary final at times they were intercept marking and we felt if you had that bigger guy who could cover ground and compete and bring the ball to ground it’s an asset on your list.”

[choconmientay]

^^^^
So he wanted to play for us. We got him for a bargain. Pay only around 200k for him next year so no salary cap pressure. His private life is now in order. We got the best coach going around to give him all the love he needs. He sheds the kilos in the preseason and thrilled to be throwing himself into a fresh challenge . This sound like a recipe to success to me ��

[Go_Dogs]

I just love saying premiership.

A few mates were recently selecting rival squads of 22, one player at a time, and then debating which team was better position by position. Every time a Bulldogs player was pitted against a non-Dog, I was able to say "better than premiership player, Luke Dahlhaus? You're kidding." I will never get sick of it.



Travis looks fit.

It was hard looking at that photo and not thinking, leave Jack alone Cloke. But I will adapt. And so will Clokey.

[bulldogtragic]

^^^^
So he wanted to play for us. We got him for a bargain. Pay only around 200k for him next year so no salary cap pressure. His private life is now in order. We got the best coach going around to give him all the love he needs. He sheds the kilos in the preseason and thrilled to be throwing himself into a fresh challenge . This sound like a recipe to success to me ��

Absolutely, low risk & potential huge reward. If we are going to keep the role Cordy played in the finals and that is in fact the role we have for him, then he should absolutely excel in it. I can't wait to see him in the nab rounds early next year to see how he goes.

[LostDoggy]

At the age of 36, Travis' father polled nine Brownlow votes in his final three games in 1991. Imagine getting that sort of production out of Travis until he's 36.

[Twodogs]

At the age of 36, Travis' father polled nine Brownlow votes in his final three games in 1991. Imagine getting that sort of production out of Travis until he's 36.

From memory David kicked 7 in his last game too.

He was a very good centre half forward who played in the ruck for a few seasons in the middle of his career and then went to full forward for the last part.

[merantau]

The more I read about Travis Cloke the more upbeat I feel about him joining us - it just makes a lot of sense, especially with Big Jack out until very late in the season. If Tom Campbell continues to come on he and Roughie could share ruck duties allowing Tom Boyd to play forward. Travis has a pretty good tank and his tackling is excellent. Zaine Cordy, a crunching tackler, could slot in down back placing a lot of pressure on our defenders to get a spot in the line up as Marcus Adams will be back too. We have a lot of problems to nut out at selection.