cloke

[true blue19]

i just what to see what everybody thinks about cloke at chf. i thought he was good against the roos. he only kick 2 goals but if he can do that every game its a win for him. i think 44 goals plus fevs 70-100 goals aswell as a good spread form our small forwards(betts, yarran, houlihan, robinson and garlett) as more goals from our mids is a great return.

 

[HBF]

What Cloke lacks in polish and class, he makes up for in determination and endeavour, and will always provide a contest, and give our smaller players a chance at ground level.

I recall hearing Nathan Buckley say that he has a massive motor, and could hold down CHF with no problems. If we can get around 35-40 goals out of him this year, it will go along way to us playing finals this year.

 

[TorresIsGod]

Brisbane Lions late last season say Cloke can be an effective CHF.

 

[AlecDuncan]

Not good enough for CHF. The only position he isn't too slow for is the ruck, and he's a makeshift ruckman at best. Jacobs may already have passed him, and once we're convinced any two of the other four are better rucks, then he's gawn.

 

[Gezza125]

Not necessarily a permanent CHF but certainly a marking option in the forward line, I like the idea of Fev leading and Cloke dropping back to the square to take the odd grab. Agree that if he can return 30 goals that would be good enough.

Then we have Kruezer as well, so i would have two of the three at any one time but not all three at the same time. Really excited about Kruezer this year in the forward half, good accurate kick as well.

 

[Juddys_navy_blues]

What Cloke lacks in polish and class, he makes up for in determination and endeavour, and will always provide a contest, and give our smaller players a chance at ground level.

I recall hearing Nathan Buckley say that he has a massive motor, and could hold down CHF with no problems. If we can get around 35-40 goals out of him this year, it will go along way to us playing finals this year.

Id say Buckley would be a good judge, if he thinks he can play there its good enough for me.

 

[blues_gibbzy]

Not good enough for CHF. The only position he isn't too slow for is the ruck, and he's a makeshift ruckman at best. Jacobs may already have passed him, and once we're convinced any two of the other four are better rucks, then he's gawn.

I'm with you he isn't good enough for Chf(these days of football) and what I saw from him in the Kangas match he was murdered.

 

[Blue since 72]

I reckon he should be there for the early rounds, at least to see how he goes. Bear in mind we haven't had a guy of his size in that spot for awhile and he'll make the other clubs accountable in terms of they'll have to put a bigger backman on him. Most clubs would struggle to have two bigger quality backman and it should also lessen the prospect of teams double teaming fev. It wouldn't surprise me if ratts is looking to use him specifially as a foil for fev and if he can pick up a couple of goals a game then great. Remember fish has held down chf in recent times and while he takes a good overhead grab he's not what you'd call well built and I'd reckon clokey is a better set shot kick.

 

[BlueTouchPaper]

Lacks acceleration, lacks speed, lacks one-on-one experience, and only redeems himself by his high marking ability. Thing he lacks most at CHF is opportunity, and one could suggest however that if he gives his all, as he always does, he could make a real fist of it.

 

[mac25]

I think our efforts are more in hope than reality.
Cloke cannot hold down a traditional CHF position for us.

I think we will see Kreuzer in there around mid season onwards, with the view of developing him there.
We just don't have a ready made CHF to slot in.

Hartlett and Edwards?: We are seriously dreaming, and it won't be Waite (I hope)

Cloke is only a short term solution to our CHF problem, he is not quick enough and good teams will expolit this.
He will provide a contest but seriously he is not the answer longer term.

 

[Blue_Ninja]

If he is just going to be used as a 'foil' for Fev he should be played as a forward pocket, as opposed to CHF. I think that given his physical attributes he would be much more suited to the role and probably give us a better return goal wise. Playing closer to goal he would also be a much better 'foil' for Fev, if teams were to double or triple team Fev there would be another decent, tall option in the vicinity.

 

[blues4flag]

i just what to see what everybody thinks about cloke at chf. i thought he was good against the roos. he only kick 2 goals but if he can do that every game its a win for him. i think 44 goals plus fevs 70-100 goals aswell as a good spread form our small forwards(betts, yarran, houlihan, robinson and garlett) as more goals from our mids is a great return.

While he did kick 2 goals, neither came from marks - I believe one was a crumb and another from a free kick.

While any goal is a good goal, we really need him to take strong marks up forward. Only then will the opposition pay him enough respect so as not to constantly double/triple team Fevola. He showed towards the end of last year that he's capable of taking a good grab - particularly the 2nd Brisbane game. If he can kick one or two goals a game, taking marks inside 50, as well as Fisher hopefully regaining form and kicking 35+ plus and Kreuzer rotating through the ruck/forward, that'd go a long way to addressing our forward line issues.

Our small-mid forwards are starting to look fairly handy. Houlihan and Walker will add another dimension to our forward line, while Betts has proven his worth over the years and seems to be following a similar career path to Leon Davis. Gartlett showed a lot of promise against the Roos and could prove to be a livewire up forward and we all know how talented Yarran is, though I suspect it might be a year or two before he makes a big impact at AFL level.

 

[Amers]

If he is just going to be used as a 'foil' for Fev he should be played as a forward pocket, as opposed to CHF. I think that given his physical attributes he would be much more suited to the role and probably give us a better return goal wise. Playing closer to goal he would also be a much better 'foil' for Fev, if teams were to double or triple team Fev there would be another decent, tall option in the vicinity.

What he said !!

If Cloke was to play FP and kick 2 goals a game (40 a season) he would make a great 3rd tall.

With Fisher, Kreuzer running around down there as well, we could have quite an imposing tall forward line !!

 

[4QTR BLUES]

I hold back making comments on here because everytime I jump on it seems I am having to defend one of our own.

I dont know if I see things that others dont but Cloke is a great team player. He has the size and maturity that we lack at the moment. Regularly this guy puts himself in the middle of the pack, he has good hands and he uses his bulk. Last week from the goal square he placed himself in between the defenders and Fev and allowed him the space to make the lead, mark the ball and kick the goal.

He kicked two goals himself this week and since being given the opportunity to play the CHF position he regularly features as a goal kicker.

When he doesnt do what is required then go hammer and tong....but give the bloke a chance.

 

[40yearBLUE]

I hold back making comments on here because everytime I jump on it seems I am having to defend one of our own.

I dont know if I see things that others dont but Cloke is a great team player. He has the size and maturity that we lack at the moment. Regularly this guy puts himself in the middle of the pack, he has good hands and he uses his bulk. Last week from the goal square he placed himself in between the defenders and Fev and allowed him the space to make the lead, mark the ball and kick the goal.

He kicked two goals himself this week and since being given the opportunity to play the CHF position he regularly features as a goal kicker.

When he doesnt do what is required then go hammer and tong....but give the bloke a chance.

Mate never hold back making comments on here, no matter what some of the doom and gloomers try to bash you with. (Besides I could use a bit of a chop out sometimes when I am pushing my anti player bashing line). I agree Cloke is under rated in the games he has played. What I beleive he needs is a bit time in the role to grow some confidence. Its a luxury we may have for a while but not long, but if he grasps the opportunity I am sure he can make a reasonabale CHF. My issue is if we can fit him in. I like him in the team, but I am also a fan of Fish and of course Kruze.

I dont agree though that we could have more than 3 talls in the 6 forwards. You need balance. If the forward line is too short (like say the Bulldogs, without a key forward) then if a team floods you dont have anyone to take a grab, but if you are too tall then rebounding running half backs will cut you a new one and play havoc with our still developing back half. We need some pressure either keeping the ball in or at least slowing its extraction long enough for our mids to give the backs a chop out. If a ball is delivered with speed it makes it very tough on defenders.

So having established my argument on only have 3 talls, then we have a problem fitting 4 or 5 talls into only 3 slots. Fev unless injured (or god forbid suspended) is an auto pic, then we have Fish, Cloke, Hartlett, Edwards and Kruze all vying for the other 2 slots. And if Warnock and Hammer come on as the main rucks, that would suggest Kruze would have another slot locked, leaving Cloke and Fish as the current front runners for the 3rd tall.

As you can see it is starting to get tough fitting them all in.

 

[true blue19]

Mate never hold back making comments on here, no matter what some of the doom and gloomers try to bash you with. (Besides I could use a bit of a chop out sometimes when I am pushing my anti player bashing line). I agree Cloke is under rated in the games he has played. What I beleive he needs is a bit time in the role to grow some confidence. Its a luxury we may have for a while but not long, but if he grasps the opportunity I am sure he can make a reasonabale CHF. My issue is if we can fit him in. I like him in the team, but I am also a fan of Fish and of course Kruze.

I dont agree though that we could have more than 3 talls in the 6 forwards. You need balance. If the forward line is too short (like say the Bulldogs, without a key forward) then if a team floods you dont have anyone to take a grab, but if you are too tall then rebounding running half backs will cut you a new one and play havoc with our still developing back half. We need some pressure either keeping the ball in or at least slowing its extraction long enough for our mids to give the backs a chop out. If a ball is delivered with speed it makes it very tough on defenders.

So having established my argument on only have 3 talls, then we have a problem fitting 4 or 5 talls into only 3 slots. Fev unless injured (or god forbid suspended) is an auto pic, then we have Fish, Cloke, Hartlett, Edwards and Kruze all vying for the other 2 slots. And if Warnock and Hammer come on as the main rucks, that would suggest Kruze would have another slot locked, leaving Cloke and Fish as the current front runners for the 3rd tall.

As you can see it is starting to get tough fitting them all in.

i think we could be too tall with fev, cloke and fisher especially with walker(190)and houlihan(188). i would like to see fev and cloke as the two talls and houlihan as the 3rd and we rotate kreuzer from the ruck into the forward line move houlihan in the midfield. also play betts and yarran as the two small and the last spot use it as midfield rotation for judd, stevens, murphy and walker.

 

[4QTR BLUES]

I certainly dont disagree with the sentiment that for team balance there should be no more than 3 talls (maximum) in the forward line. My argument at the moment is that Cloke is one of those 3.

The way I see it is that Cloke should be predominantly CHF where he uses his size to make the contest, assists to make space for Fev, ensures the ball hits the ground to the advantage of our crumbers and he takes marks and kicks goals. Kruezer will occassionally rotate to the CHF position from the ruck/bench and Cloke to the bench. Primary ruck will remain either Warnock/Hampson/Jacobs.

In relation to the other tall forwards nominated;

Fisher plays tall, but has the ability to be mobile and run out to the wings. More suited for a forward pocket where he will be the marking full forward when Fev has led out to the 50 metre mark.

Hartlett hasn't shown enough in the games he has played at this stage and can't get on the park because of injury.

Edwards hasn't shown enough in the games he has played and at times appears to lack intensity and physical size.

As far as Houlihan and Walker are concerned - Extremely lucky to have tall midfielder types who are quick, have good hands and defensive pressure. They can play both tall and short and can kick goals. Rotate off a half forward flank.

So the forward line should be similar to;

Fev = Full Forward
Cloke = Centre Half Forward (Occassional rotation to bench and replaced by Kruezer)
Fisher = Forward Pocket
Walker/Houlihan = Half Forward Flank
Yarran/Robinson = Half Forward Flank (These 4 can rotate through bench/midfield)
Betts/Garlett = Forward Pocket

Seems fairly good team balance to me, and at this stage Cloke holds his spot.

 

[TorresIsGod]

Jordan Russell relegated to the Bullants reserves and starting on the interchange bench.

 

[40yearBLUE]

Jordan Russell relegated to the Bullants reserves and starting on the interchange bench.

I wont be biting. Not this time.

 

[DonFletch]

Cloke is only a short term solution to our CHF problem, he is not quick enough and good teams will expolit this.
He will provide a contest but seriously he is not the answer longer term.

I couldn't agree more.
People thinking he can kick between 30-40 from CHF are dreaming - that was Earl's output in 95', and Cloke aint no Duke!!

...but I wish him well.

 

[Beloved]

I think that CHF is the spot for Clokey this year with the amount of Rucks we have that could easily slot into the team at the moment. We know he can kick goals, we know that he can take big marks, we know that he can block - why the hell not?

10-20 goals and the usual suspects like Eddie and Fisher kicking over 20 goals, and of course Fevola with his measly 70+ goals sounds like a good return to me.

 

[4QTR BLUES]

Cloke wont necessarily kick 40 goals but he is one of the few larger bodies we have. He is there for the team, it wont be his ability to win a game off his own boot but more about him being able to compete for the team and use his size to allow the smaller players time and space. As I said previously said he held his own and Fevs defender back so that Fev could make the leads.

As far as being slow is concerned if you have the other forward positions covered by the right players ie. Walker/Houlihan/Robinson/Betts/Yarran/Garlett and even Fev then speed aint going to be a problem.

If you have someone in mind that can take up the position let me know because I'm keen to know.

By the way, Cloke has kicked 11 goals in his last 6 matches. At that rate he'll kick just over 40 in 22 matches, but I dont want to add too much pressure on the bloke because its the other things he does that count.

 

[Juddys_navy_blues]

Cloke wont necessarily kick 40 goals but he is one of the few larger bodies we have. He is there for the team, it wont be his ability to win a game off his own boot but more about him being able to compete for the team and use his size to allow the smaller players time and space. As I said previously said he held his own and Fevs defender back so that Fev could make the leads.

As far as being slow is concerned if you have the other forward positions covered by the right players ie. Walker/Houlihan/Robinson/Betts/Yarran/Garlett and even Fev then speed aint going to be a problem.

If you have someone in mind that can take up the position let me know because I'm keen to know.

By the way, Cloke has kicked 11 goals in his last 6 matches. At that rate he'll kick just over 40 in 22 matches, but I dont want to add too much pressure on the bloke because its the other things he does that count.

Good post, he doesnt need to be Wayne Carey, just a target who can bring the ball to ground and feed our small forwards and hopefully chip in with 1 or 2 goals a game.

 

[blue gunslinger]

Regardless of whether it is Cloke, Kreuz or others they will just have to be careful that they are being a target but not hampering the number 1 target ie stay out of Fev's way.

 

[blues_gibbo6]

I would def like to see what cloke can do in the forward line for at least a couple of games early on in the season, and give him a go. And i also think people are too easily throwing in Fisher as an automatic selection. Yes i love watching the guy play, and he has a great set of hands on him, but too often is he exposed and i think this season he'll be playing for his career, especially with the depth we're starting to see at the club and possibilty of finals this year we cant have any stragglers. So i think at the start of the year mix things up forward abit, our backline is starting to be solidified bar injuries, we have the gun midfielders, i think ratts just has to find some harmony up forward and cloke could be the man to shake things up. And as mentioned before, even being used as a foil for fev is a plus for us. too many times last season he was being dbl and trp teamed and these free players weren making the defence pay.