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travis cloke

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We won't get Cloke, but I agree that we should embrace free agency and make a play for a key forward.

Doesn't have to be a 'big name', just a player who isn't getting enough of a go at his club, but who we think has enormous talent.

With Hall we were spoilt and now we realise how important a good tall key forward actually is.
 
If we pay $800k to $1m per annum to Cloke for the next 4 years it will all end in tears for us (again.) Will we never learn????

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Albert Einstein
 
black pup said:
Longwait the wait only gets longer.
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A few years ago when we were knocking on the door of a grand final I was desperate for us to recuit a gun forward Black Pup. Barry Hall was who I wanted and so did the club, but we shirked at Sydney's asking price and left it too late.

This is not the right time to make a play for the absolute A-grader from another club and Travis Cloke is certainly not the player if it were the right time.

Let's remember that Barry Hall in the twilight of his career was significantly better than Travis Cloke will ever be. Cloke has had one good season ffs.
 

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I'd rather us get a gun midfielder.

A gun midfield turned Cameron Mooney into a premiership player.

Where did a substandard midfield get players like Matty Richardson and Tony Lockett?
 
Agree with the midfield need. If we were able to get two similar to Cotchin and dDustin Martin we would be looking very good.
We have quite a few key forward options (not just Jones) ... much better placed than in our pre-Hall years. I'd rather we developed them and spent big on classy midfielders.

Unless of course a too-good-to-refuse opportunity came our way, like Mason Shaw. I reckon he could become a gun within 2years. However I don't think Cloke is the answer.
 
Look we would have B*gg*r all hope of out bidding the expansion clubs, Freo. etc or Colliwobbles for Cloke, Pendles, Daisy or Swan etc.,etc.
We should use this draft to top up on 'A' grade quick mids. Develop some long term key forwards from our own present crop of talented youngsters. At best we are several years off being a contender anyway.
For me I would be looking not for another quick fix player. There are two ideas I would consider : disgruntled or unhappy kids from GWS & GC, and possibly a long term replacement for Gilbs.
The one I would move hell and high water for would be Sidebottom. The Colliwobbles could be pushing their limits under the salary cap with retaining their top 5-6. So a big offer might sway the kid. What is he?...21-22yo...a natural footballer with vision and smarts..with either foot or hand he almost never misses a target, and he stands up in the big games/pressure. I would love to see him in Red, White and Blue at what ever we had to pay him.
 
I reckon if you compare Cloke to Jones at the same stage of their careers, Jones would be well on top, i haven't done the stats and Cloke has become the best power forward in the game. But i don't think we could ask more from Jones.

But still, what would getting Cloke achieve. Here are some reasons against...
  1. We aren't going to be a realistic chance until 2015... Cloke will be 29-30. He will be slowing down by then and throw in an injury or two.
  2. We will probably finish 7th-10th and miss out on draft picks when we should be rebuilding.
  3. With Cloke we still have many holes to fill to be an instant top 4 team. Outside mids, KPD that doesnt get injured, replacing Murphy & Lake, small forward with x-factor, forward delivery etc etc
  4. If 2015 is our open window, lets say we finish top 4 for a few years after that, then he would have retired. Then we are screwed all over again.
  5. we would lose at least one of the young forwards we have now. If Panos and Hill turn out alright, there is no room for them in the team, they will request a trade and we would get unders for them
  6. This may help Jones' development short term but it will hamper Panos, Hill, Redpath etc
Cloke is damn fine player, but i challenge anyone to oppose my above and be more appealing
 
paulveed said:
Look we would have B*gg*r all hope of out bidding the expansion clubs, Freo. etc or Colliwobbles for Cloke, Pendles, Daisy or Swan etc.,etc.
We should use this draft to top up on 'A' grade quick mids. Develop some long term key forwards from our own present crop of talented youngsters. At best we are several years off being a contender anyway.
For me I would be looking not for another quick fix player. There are two ideas I would consider : disgruntled or unhappy kids from GWS & GC, and possibly a long term replacement for Gilbs.
The one I would move hell and high water for would be Sidebottom. The Colliwobbles could be pushing their limits under the salary cap with retaining their top 5-6. So a big offer might sway the kid. What is he?...21-22yo...a natural footballer with vision and smarts..with either foot or hand he almost never misses a target, and he stands up in the big games/pressure. I would love to see him in Red, White and Blue at what ever we had to pay him.
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And kicked 10 in a TAC Cup GF one year. Agree, he's a very good player.

He's the type we should be aiming at - players on the fringe at top 6 clubs. Don't go for the obvious big name targets.

We took Rawlings after one standout year and look where that got us.:eek:
 
Cloke would be fantastic and while we should atleast make an enquiry, the price we would probably have to pay would be completly unrealistic. However if we are going to take advanatge of free angency then Collingwood is one club we should be looking at. Unless Eddie is giving out a few brown paper bags then they must be under enormous salary cap pressure and Cloke re-signing with them would only make it worse. Go hard at their good young players like Siddbottom or Reid and see if we can squeeze one out.
 
Saints are under salary cap pressure.

Do they have anyone out of contract and in the right age group we'd look at?
 

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Palace03 said:
Cloke would be fantastic and while we should atleast make an enquiry, the price we would probably have to pay would be completly unrealistic. However if we are going to take advanatge of free angency then Collingwood is one club we should be looking at. Unless Eddie is giving out a few brown paper bags then they must be under enormous salary cap pressure and Cloke re-signing with them would only make it worse. Go hard at their good young players like Siddbottom or Reid and see if we can squeeze one out.
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Yeah, gotta play hardball on the younger players that show plenty of signs of talent but have a little more room to develop. Between Cloke, Pendles, Swan and Thomas they would be paying a shitload of money for them so the younger blokes in the best 22 are very good targets.
 
Lex22 said:
Stanley or Steven would pretty handy for us imo. Wouldn’t be all that expensive either.
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I think they would actually be quite expensive. Stanley is important for the Saints this year with McEvoy going down, and he's been playing really well. They don't have a lot of young talls on their list either.
Steven is their best young mid, so they wouldn't want to lose him either.

I think they would rather lose older players than those two.
 
Igloo said:
I think they would actually be quite expensive. Stanley is important for the Saints this year with McEvoy going down, and he's been playing really well. They don't have a lot of young talls on their list either.
Steven is their best young mid, so they wouldn't want to lose him either.

I think they would rather lose older players than those two.
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You have a point with Steven, he is probably their only half-decent young mid, so they’d fight tooth and nail to keep him. We should still have a shot if he’s available. Not sure if Stanley would be a big earner, though. He’s some way behind in the pecking order when it comes to big guys with Riewoldt, Kosi, McEvoy, Fisher etc all entrenched and deservedly getting fatter pay cheques and although they are older, I can’t see any of them four leaving in the next 3 or 4 years. If uncontracted, you’d have to have a look at him.
 
Lex22 said:
Stanley or Steven would pretty handy for us imo. Wouldn’t be all that expensive either.
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lol, their best young key forward and best young mid, Watters would rather cut off his right arm than lose either of these 2. The ones that will be pushed out of the saints will be the likes of Polo, Ray, Peake, Clarke etc, none of which we would want to go anywhere near
 

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It doesn't matter what Collingwood want. We are talking about signing him as a Free Agent not trading for him. :)
 
boydsno1 said:
To get Cloke you would think Collingwood would want Minson plus our first Rounder as a bare minimum. Personally i think we should target reid. Yes we would have to give up alot but he has a much longer career left in him then cloke and has shown that he can perform down back and Swing forward and play a role there aswell.
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No trading mate, get someone with Free Angency. The club better get itself out there and try and snare a couple because no doubt we are going to loose a couple to FA over the journey.
 
NO, we grow our own, no more other grafted on players from other clubs.
 
Dogs_r_barking said:
NO, we grow our own, no more other grafted on players from other clubs.
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Two threads in a row I find myself saying "Hear! Hear! D_r_B" (the other was: why the hell are we still talking about Josh Hill?)

Well said, D r B.
 

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