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Cloke a Willy Wonkey
09 July 2005 Herald Sun
Nice place Williamstown if you can afford it. But if you're a Collingwood footballer you can't afford to spend too much time there. Just ask Jason Cloke.
Biting the dust: Jason Cloke has been under heavy scrutiny from the media and opponents.
IT'S 7 o'clock on a Monday morning and Jason Cloke is a universe away from the cosseted world of the modern-day AFL footballer.
As darkness gradually lifts and the freezing air fills with puffs of warm breath, a clear-eyed Cloke arrives at the outer suburban building site, ready for another day in his new career as an apprentice builder and carpenter.
It might be cold enough to freeze the innards of a spirit level, but Cloke doesn't mind at all. He likes the idea of living in the real world. It's something his father, David, and mother, Julie, have drummed into him from the moment he first pondered a career as a professional sportsman. More than most 23-year-olds, he knows the importance of self-reliance.
Now he's left the family home in Ringwood and moved in with his girlfriend, Nicole Dorwood, in Yarraville, he's putting into practice those lessons, working with a home builder during the week and, in his spare time, renovating two houses purchased by his younger brothers, and Magpie teammates, Cameron and Travis.
"I've always wanted to be a bit of a builder and handyman so I've decided to knock off my apprenticeship," Cloke explained this week. "Mum and Dad always said footy could finish in no time. One day you could have an injury, a car accident, anything. You've got to have something to fall back on."
Footy is not about to finish any time soon for the Collingwood defender, but he has reached a point where circumstances have conspired to make him at least wonder about his future.
From a permanent fixture in the Magpie defence, much lauded for his courage and commitment to the team cause, he has become an afterthought at the selection table, reduced to two senior games this season and a new life as a stalwart in the blue-and-gold of Collingwood's VFL feeder team, Williamstown.
Now, while he's happily immersed in his new apprenticeship, his paramount challenge in life remains the rebuilding of his AFL career. He's not the only player fighting permanent exclusion at Collingwood, of course. A similar situation confronts the 2000 Brownlow medallist and now regular Williamstown teammate, Shane Woewodin. But he's about to turn 29 and is well down the other side of the mountain. Cloke is six years his junior and still at base camp, looking longingly to the peak.
Cloke's situation is instructive for any young aspirant in this sport. The pathway through his rookie season, in 2002, was strewn with accolades and high achievement, until he missed the Grand Final through suspension.
As devastating as it was for him, the massive amount of public attention his case received reflected the stature he'd already reached in the game. Thus, when the AFL's official guide to the 2003 season said of him "a long and distinguished career is predicted", wise heads nodded in agreement.
Between then and now, though, his 63-game career hasn't so much slowed as stalled. His "little" brothers were but two of many teenage Magpie fans who watched him from the stand, hoping that one day they, too, might be out there with him. Although the trio played one memorable game together this year, Jason is now the grandstand spectator watching them forge their own senior careers.
He betrays no sense of envy, declaring his only emotion is joy for them. But, as determined as he is to present the face of the committed club man who will work uncomplainingly until he drops to regain his position, it is obvious that there is a lot of confusion and hurt mingled in with the understandable frustration that accompanies such a rapid fall from favour.
The confusion comes from the fact that he continues to rate highly in the best players each week at Williamstown but, apart from games against St Kilda and Fremantle in Rounds 6 and 7, when a vacancy opened through injury, his name goes no further than the emergency slot each week. It's the same this week for tonight's match against the Brisbane Lions.
"I'm playing probably the best footy I've ever played," he said. "Everyone said I played great footy in my first year, but I reckon I'm better than that at the moment. I'm running more, I'm feeling stronger. It's just a matter of time before I get back in the seniors and everyone can see it."
The hurt comes from the fact that he believes he was unfairly targeted after the 112-point loss to Fremantle. "There was one bloke dropped that week after getting beaten by 100 points and it was me. So it must have been my fault that we lost," said Cloke, who was lambasted in the media after having several goals kicked on him by Fremantle stars Matthew Pavlich and Luke McPharlin.
"It's not just one bloke who loses a game of footy. There's 18 out there. When you get the (opposition) midfield pushing down and kicking to the forwards straight out in front of them, there's not a lot you can do to stop it. I got in the best the week before (against St Kilda) so I obviously did something right. But when we got flogged I was the one who dropped out of it."
Although he was obviously wounded by his treatment, Cloke says he was able to put it to one side. "I went back to Willy the next week and was best-on-ground again. That's all I can do. Just keep putting my name up," he said.
It's an attitude which endears Cloke to everyone at Collingwood. "He really has been fantastic, typical of Jason," Collingwood football manager Neil Balme said. "He's got a terrific attitude towards things. He's pretty uncomplicated. He prepares and competes really well. He gives you everything. You can't ask for more than that."
But they have, and continue to ask for more of Cloke. And the question remains whether he can produce it.
Cloke's demise came as he endured some pretty intense scrutiny from opposition clubs and the media. While he was seen as a highly successful defender in 2002, mainly playing loose in defence and coming over the top of packs to spoil, he began to disclose weaknesses – poor kicking to a target, inconsistent marking and an inability to play tightly on a man – as clubs began to work him out and pressure him.
To this end, Balme said Mick Malthouse and the coaching staff had implored him to try to improve these weaker elements of his game. "He's really worked very hard on things like playing more man-on-man. He's been very good," Balme said.
Not quite good enough, yet, to squeeze his way into a defence that is the most settled part of an improving team. But the message isn't all negative.
"They keep telling me I'm doing everything right and it's only a matter of time," Cloke said. "He (Malthouse) wants me to play hard one-on-one footy and I'm doing it. I've had no goals kicked on me so I'm doing something right. And I'm also getting plenty of the footy. I had 20-odd touches last week. I'm getting that every week."
Cloke believes he suffers from an ill-informed portrayal of him as a one-dimensional player. "I get nailed with criticisms all the time. People say I'm slow, I can't kick or do this and that. But I must be doing something right to be on an AFL list," he said.
Indeed, despite his failed flirtation with the forward line in the 2003 Grand Final, he would welcome another chance to develop as a forward.
"I'd love to get the opportunity to play up forward. So it didn't work in one game. That doesn't mean I couldn't do it now. I love playing there. I played every game in junior footy on the ball or forward. I never played down back in my life until I came to Collingwood. I've changed the way I play. I'm not just the bloke who drops off and comes over the top to spoil. Times change. I'm much more developed in my body. I've dropped 6kg this year. I've moved out of home and no longer have Mum's cooked dinners every night.
"I reckon I've also developed my skills. And I'm getting plenty of the ball, plenty of bounces, plenty of run and I'm hitting all my targets. I haven't missed a target all year.
"When I started I used to get the ball and bomb it. And I'd punch a lot. Now I'm going for my marks and getting 10-15 a week. When I came into the AFL it was so quick I would get it and kick it as fast as I could. Now I've learned you don't need to rush it; you've got time. It's a growing-up thing."
As much as he works hard to please his masters, Cloke retains more than a little frustration. He can't work out why he was being condemned for his original style of play, which, he says, is based on the team ethic.
"More or less I'm being told now I'm not playing AFL footy because I'm too team-orientated. If I'm helping out a teammate playing that way, but not getting a game, should I become more selfish? I can say to the coaches: `Yeah, I'll go back and do nothing but stop my bloke. I won't come over the top and spoil. I won't help out.' But that's me. That's how I play. Footy's a team game. When you sing the song you're not the only one singing it."
Cloke, who has another season to run on his contract, is also a realist who knows that he achieves nothing by going against the grain. "Do I get frustrated and ********ed off I'm not playing senior footy? Yeah, I do. It gets frustrating when you are emergency every week. But I've just got to go back and play in the `twos'. There's no use me pulling out my hair. I'm not the sort of bloke to do that, anyway. I still enjoy going to the footy and watching Cam and Trav run around. It would be good to see the three of us running around again. But if I go somewhere else we've at least played one game together."
I suggested to Cloke that he sounded resigned to failure in his mission to regain a permanent spot in the seniors.
"I don't want to play `twos' footy all my life. When I was growing up all I wanted to do was play AFL footy. That's still my goal. I don't care where I play it. I just want to play. They've told me to hang in there, that there's a few blokes who are a bit older and anything could happen. But if they think I'm playing crap footy and I get the arse, well, there's 15 other clubs out there who might be looking for someone. We'll just see what happens."
As the negative thoughts make fleeting intrusions into his mind, he insists he will never give up hope. "It's just a matter of time before I get another opportunity. And as soon as I get it you are not going to get me out of the side."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sounds like he is pretty happy with his form, even if no one else is.
I found this quote interesting:
"I don't want to play `twos' footy all my life. When I was growing up all I wanted to do was play AFL footy. That's still my goal. I don't care where I play it. I just want to play. They've told me to hang in there, that there's a few blokes who are a bit older and anything could happen. But if they think I'm playing crap footy and I get the arse, well, there's 15 other clubs out there who might be looking for someone. We'll just see what happens."
09 July 2005 Herald Sun
Nice place Williamstown if you can afford it. But if you're a Collingwood footballer you can't afford to spend too much time there. Just ask Jason Cloke.
Biting the dust: Jason Cloke has been under heavy scrutiny from the media and opponents.
IT'S 7 o'clock on a Monday morning and Jason Cloke is a universe away from the cosseted world of the modern-day AFL footballer.
As darkness gradually lifts and the freezing air fills with puffs of warm breath, a clear-eyed Cloke arrives at the outer suburban building site, ready for another day in his new career as an apprentice builder and carpenter.
It might be cold enough to freeze the innards of a spirit level, but Cloke doesn't mind at all. He likes the idea of living in the real world. It's something his father, David, and mother, Julie, have drummed into him from the moment he first pondered a career as a professional sportsman. More than most 23-year-olds, he knows the importance of self-reliance.
Now he's left the family home in Ringwood and moved in with his girlfriend, Nicole Dorwood, in Yarraville, he's putting into practice those lessons, working with a home builder during the week and, in his spare time, renovating two houses purchased by his younger brothers, and Magpie teammates, Cameron and Travis.
"I've always wanted to be a bit of a builder and handyman so I've decided to knock off my apprenticeship," Cloke explained this week. "Mum and Dad always said footy could finish in no time. One day you could have an injury, a car accident, anything. You've got to have something to fall back on."
Footy is not about to finish any time soon for the Collingwood defender, but he has reached a point where circumstances have conspired to make him at least wonder about his future.
From a permanent fixture in the Magpie defence, much lauded for his courage and commitment to the team cause, he has become an afterthought at the selection table, reduced to two senior games this season and a new life as a stalwart in the blue-and-gold of Collingwood's VFL feeder team, Williamstown.
Now, while he's happily immersed in his new apprenticeship, his paramount challenge in life remains the rebuilding of his AFL career. He's not the only player fighting permanent exclusion at Collingwood, of course. A similar situation confronts the 2000 Brownlow medallist and now regular Williamstown teammate, Shane Woewodin. But he's about to turn 29 and is well down the other side of the mountain. Cloke is six years his junior and still at base camp, looking longingly to the peak.
Cloke's situation is instructive for any young aspirant in this sport. The pathway through his rookie season, in 2002, was strewn with accolades and high achievement, until he missed the Grand Final through suspension.
As devastating as it was for him, the massive amount of public attention his case received reflected the stature he'd already reached in the game. Thus, when the AFL's official guide to the 2003 season said of him "a long and distinguished career is predicted", wise heads nodded in agreement.
Between then and now, though, his 63-game career hasn't so much slowed as stalled. His "little" brothers were but two of many teenage Magpie fans who watched him from the stand, hoping that one day they, too, might be out there with him. Although the trio played one memorable game together this year, Jason is now the grandstand spectator watching them forge their own senior careers.
He betrays no sense of envy, declaring his only emotion is joy for them. But, as determined as he is to present the face of the committed club man who will work uncomplainingly until he drops to regain his position, it is obvious that there is a lot of confusion and hurt mingled in with the understandable frustration that accompanies such a rapid fall from favour.
The confusion comes from the fact that he continues to rate highly in the best players each week at Williamstown but, apart from games against St Kilda and Fremantle in Rounds 6 and 7, when a vacancy opened through injury, his name goes no further than the emergency slot each week. It's the same this week for tonight's match against the Brisbane Lions.
"I'm playing probably the best footy I've ever played," he said. "Everyone said I played great footy in my first year, but I reckon I'm better than that at the moment. I'm running more, I'm feeling stronger. It's just a matter of time before I get back in the seniors and everyone can see it."
The hurt comes from the fact that he believes he was unfairly targeted after the 112-point loss to Fremantle. "There was one bloke dropped that week after getting beaten by 100 points and it was me. So it must have been my fault that we lost," said Cloke, who was lambasted in the media after having several goals kicked on him by Fremantle stars Matthew Pavlich and Luke McPharlin.
"It's not just one bloke who loses a game of footy. There's 18 out there. When you get the (opposition) midfield pushing down and kicking to the forwards straight out in front of them, there's not a lot you can do to stop it. I got in the best the week before (against St Kilda) so I obviously did something right. But when we got flogged I was the one who dropped out of it."
Although he was obviously wounded by his treatment, Cloke says he was able to put it to one side. "I went back to Willy the next week and was best-on-ground again. That's all I can do. Just keep putting my name up," he said.
It's an attitude which endears Cloke to everyone at Collingwood. "He really has been fantastic, typical of Jason," Collingwood football manager Neil Balme said. "He's got a terrific attitude towards things. He's pretty uncomplicated. He prepares and competes really well. He gives you everything. You can't ask for more than that."
But they have, and continue to ask for more of Cloke. And the question remains whether he can produce it.
Cloke's demise came as he endured some pretty intense scrutiny from opposition clubs and the media. While he was seen as a highly successful defender in 2002, mainly playing loose in defence and coming over the top of packs to spoil, he began to disclose weaknesses – poor kicking to a target, inconsistent marking and an inability to play tightly on a man – as clubs began to work him out and pressure him.
To this end, Balme said Mick Malthouse and the coaching staff had implored him to try to improve these weaker elements of his game. "He's really worked very hard on things like playing more man-on-man. He's been very good," Balme said.
Not quite good enough, yet, to squeeze his way into a defence that is the most settled part of an improving team. But the message isn't all negative.
"They keep telling me I'm doing everything right and it's only a matter of time," Cloke said. "He (Malthouse) wants me to play hard one-on-one footy and I'm doing it. I've had no goals kicked on me so I'm doing something right. And I'm also getting plenty of the footy. I had 20-odd touches last week. I'm getting that every week."
Cloke believes he suffers from an ill-informed portrayal of him as a one-dimensional player. "I get nailed with criticisms all the time. People say I'm slow, I can't kick or do this and that. But I must be doing something right to be on an AFL list," he said.
Indeed, despite his failed flirtation with the forward line in the 2003 Grand Final, he would welcome another chance to develop as a forward.
"I'd love to get the opportunity to play up forward. So it didn't work in one game. That doesn't mean I couldn't do it now. I love playing there. I played every game in junior footy on the ball or forward. I never played down back in my life until I came to Collingwood. I've changed the way I play. I'm not just the bloke who drops off and comes over the top to spoil. Times change. I'm much more developed in my body. I've dropped 6kg this year. I've moved out of home and no longer have Mum's cooked dinners every night.
"I reckon I've also developed my skills. And I'm getting plenty of the ball, plenty of bounces, plenty of run and I'm hitting all my targets. I haven't missed a target all year.
"When I started I used to get the ball and bomb it. And I'd punch a lot. Now I'm going for my marks and getting 10-15 a week. When I came into the AFL it was so quick I would get it and kick it as fast as I could. Now I've learned you don't need to rush it; you've got time. It's a growing-up thing."
As much as he works hard to please his masters, Cloke retains more than a little frustration. He can't work out why he was being condemned for his original style of play, which, he says, is based on the team ethic.
"More or less I'm being told now I'm not playing AFL footy because I'm too team-orientated. If I'm helping out a teammate playing that way, but not getting a game, should I become more selfish? I can say to the coaches: `Yeah, I'll go back and do nothing but stop my bloke. I won't come over the top and spoil. I won't help out.' But that's me. That's how I play. Footy's a team game. When you sing the song you're not the only one singing it."
Cloke, who has another season to run on his contract, is also a realist who knows that he achieves nothing by going against the grain. "Do I get frustrated and ********ed off I'm not playing senior footy? Yeah, I do. It gets frustrating when you are emergency every week. But I've just got to go back and play in the `twos'. There's no use me pulling out my hair. I'm not the sort of bloke to do that, anyway. I still enjoy going to the footy and watching Cam and Trav run around. It would be good to see the three of us running around again. But if I go somewhere else we've at least played one game together."
I suggested to Cloke that he sounded resigned to failure in his mission to regain a permanent spot in the seniors.
"I don't want to play `twos' footy all my life. When I was growing up all I wanted to do was play AFL footy. That's still my goal. I don't care where I play it. I just want to play. They've told me to hang in there, that there's a few blokes who are a bit older and anything could happen. But if they think I'm playing crap footy and I get the arse, well, there's 15 other clubs out there who might be looking for someone. We'll just see what happens."
As the negative thoughts make fleeting intrusions into his mind, he insists he will never give up hope. "It's just a matter of time before I get another opportunity. And as soon as I get it you are not going to get me out of the side."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sounds like he is pretty happy with his form, even if no one else is.
I found this quote interesting:
"I don't want to play `twos' footy all my life. When I was growing up all I wanted to do was play AFL footy. That's still my goal. I don't care where I play it. I just want to play. They've told me to hang in there, that there's a few blokes who are a bit older and anything could happen. But if they think I'm playing crap footy and I get the arse, well, there's 15 other clubs out there who might be looking for someone. We'll just see what happens."
