What's wrong with Travis Cloke?

Travis Cloke

Buckley says his spearhead forward deserved some more free kicks in the his side's 38-point win over Richmond.

Collingwood easily won the match but Cloke uncharacteristically went goalless and took just three marks.

He was tipped to dominate direct opponent David Astbury, but the young Tigers backman totally nullified his influence.

"We went in (inside 50m) 52 times - (it was) probably not a night for high-marking forwards," Buckley said.

"His workrate was consistent.

Buckley believes Cloke has been hard done by in the way umpires are interpreting marking contests he is involved in.

"I do believe there are a couple of sets of rules out there at the moment.

"He's getting umpired to one set and everyone else to another.

"But he has to fight through that - I thought he stuck to his task."

Where Cloke wasn't pulling his weight, recruit Jesse White picked up the slack, booting three goals and grabbing seven marks in his best performance since shifting from Sydney.

"We identified through the (pre-season) that with Ben (Reid) and Travis (Cloke), that Jesse was a very good third-tall foil for our forward line," Buckley said.

"He's very mobile, he crumbs well, he leads up well, he can take a mark on the lead, clearly can take a contested mark.

"Having that structure suited him better ... it worked for us this evening."

Nathan Brown, who avoided shoulder surgery at the start of the month, is a chance to return for Collingwood's important match against North Melbourne Easter Saturday afternoon.

 

 

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