Cloke's Kicking...

[Swanny36]

Will it hurt us in the finals this year?

I'm not just talking about his goal kicking either, his field kicking is horrid, he gets the ball, turns around onto his left and BANG! Straight onto the boot everytime, without ever really looking.

I think it is a concern, it could really cost us in a tight match against any of the teams that are playing finals this year.

Just to make it clear, I am not ripping into him, I think he has been sensational the last month or maybe even longer.

Your thoughts?

 

[Optimax]

i didnt think his field kicking was all that bad today

Well Ive seen him alot worse and he actually kicked goals today (missed the easiest)

 

[Blur]

I thought his kicking was more accurate today, except that miss right in front. Wasn't as bad as usual, I thought.

 

[Swanny36]

Yeah today, he was decent, but I wasn't generalising on todays game. Pretty much everyone played well.

But over the season and the last few weeks, he and JA have missed several very simple shots at goal, and both of there field kicking (not so much Jack) has been ordinary.

 

[smiddaz123]

It's an issue.....if he marks 30m out directly in front at a clutch stage in a final.....I wouldn't be confident.

It's pathetic that a guy who would spend so much of his life practicing goal kicking to have the issues he does, and to miss from 15 metres out directly in front. It's a basic thing for an teenager to do.

He has improved since his early days...but it still isn't up to scratch.

 

[Rohan25]

He had a good game today, but his goal kicking could quite conceivably cost us dearly in finals.

 

[Snag Breac]

The odd thing is, he nailed one goal from a really difficult angle, then missed an easy one. It's all in the mind.

 

[DoubleO7]

Old news is old news.

 

[Chief Ten Beers]

He's one of the worst kicks I've ever seen. The trouble is that it doesn't actually seem to improve over the years.

I can't really speak about his efforts at training but I wonder if he stays behind after it's finished like Jack? Whatever it is I really hope that the coaches/staff pay some attention to it.

 

[Ant85]

Good thing you brought this up Swanny36, I was thinking about it while watching the game today.

What do we do with Cloke?

He's not a goalkicker, but really important in drawing defenders away from our other forwards, and crashing the packs (A Rocca style).

Do we play him more up the field and keep him away from the goals, as he often does throughout the match?

It's a real worry, he's the last person (well maybe L Brown) I'd want to be lining up in the dying minutes of a final.

We should've won by 130 points today.

 

[Genc the Magpieman]

If only he was as accurate with his kicking as he is with his teeth!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE swap Cloke for Pavlich!

 

[Ketchup]

If only he was as accurate with his kicking as he is with his teeth!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE swap Cloke for Pavlich!

Lol, Freo would def take this

 

[simpin68]

Cloke wasn't robinson crusoe when it came to missing sitters. What about medders and JA, they missed some easy ones as well. I think it's the commentators, everytime they mention a players good goal kicking stats just before the kick it they miss for certain.

 

[Chief Ten Beers]

JA has a 68% conversion record which they mentioned Tony Lockett's career average was 70% which is the all-time record. Not bad for a 21yo in his second season.

Medhurst has had a disappointing year compared to last but it's due to the lengthy out he has had, he hasn't been able to find the same form. Don't forget the kind of goals he has been getting at Collingwood last few seasons.

Cloke pretty much has always sucked at goal from set shots. I'm not talking about the missing 10m in front yesterday as an isolated incident, watch from games from the beginning of the year, he sprays them everywhere, even out on the full. It's a psychological problem that he's just never been able to overcome and it's a worry because he's a great player - it's just a big weakness he has.

 

[Lockyer24]

We need to clean up this 50% business (13.13, 24.24 whatever) if we are going to go far. Just ask Geelong what happens when you miss sitters.

Missing from the top of the goalsquare FFS - if Medders/Trav/Jack aren't doing extra goalkicking sessions I'd be very disappointed.

Collect every single ball available around the Lexus Centre and go take pot shots from every single blade of grass in the F50 at Gosch Paddock please...5 times a week!

 

[Chief Ten Beers]

It's no secret, that's all it takes.

They should show Trav Tiger Wood's and other pro golfers training, 1000 to 1200 balls a day.

 

[lgarth80]

I thought the wind was going round the ground making it harder to kick to Punt Road end all day. Mind you Cloke's was a sitter that no one should ever miss.

Cloke's kicking has cost us at times, but he's not the worst kick I've ever seen, can make the distance from over 50 and we don't have any better options so we should just pray he gets better.

 

[4#Didak#4]

Unfortunately I don't think we can win a grand final while our key forward kicks like he does. If our key forward cannot convert simple oppurtunities in finals we will not beat the better sides as every chance will count. Even a great side like Geelong needs their key forward to convert consistently - it cost them a GF.

I cannot fathom how his kicking has not improved given all the coaching resources we have available. There are some simple things that he does wrong, things you see juniors doing and they are easily coached out of these habits.

Two things he needs to fix that would make an enourmous difference are:

1. His ball drop. He drops the ball a long way before making contact this increases margin for error, especially with his kicking action. Kids do this all the time drop it high and kick in hope they make some sort of contact. It feels sometimes Travis is still at this stage, particularly when his confidence is down. The best kicks in the game have either a very low ball drop between hand & foot (think Didak & Ablett) or their ball drop is controlled & stable (think Lockyer).

2. He often kick on his heels. By this I mean his momentum when kicking is to rock his weight back & use his legpower to swing through the ball. He should be having his momentum going forward when kicking so not only his leg is going through the ball his whole body is. He has been able to get away with this (particularly as a junior when this should have been fixed) because he is just naturally so strong and when he is on his game it makes little difference, but when he is off it means he has very little control of where the ball is going. This you see a lot when he hits the ball hard & long down field.....out on the full! He may lose distance by correcting this in the short term, but I would much prefer a key forward who can kick straight over 40m rather than inaccurate over 60m.

 

[Dogs_Playing_Poker]

It will cost us.... Cloke's kicking is simply put - f%#ked! Too stiff when walking in, Drops the ball far too high and doesnt guide the ball onto his foot. Needs to fix this then come up with a run up as Jack does and stick to it.

 

[The Dawes]

Trav is a very good centre half forward and his form has been on the rise over recent weeks, but as other posters have said he misses too many gettable shots - it's the only thing stopping him from being an elite player.

I think half his problem is that he isn't relaxed enough when he drops the ball - the goal he kicked from near the boundary on the wrong side for a lefty shows he can kick, he just seems to tense up for the 'easier' ones.