Out again: Cloke at crossroads
TRAVIS Cloke faces a fresh fight to resurrect his flagging career after being dropped by his new club Western Bulldogs last night — the fourth time he has been demoted to the VFL in the past 12 months.
Cloke, 30, was a casualty of last week’s loss to Geelong, after which Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge labelled a 50m penalty the big forward conceded at the start of the last term as “horrendous”.
Axed three times from Collingwood’s senior team last year, Cloke is in the first of a two-year deal at the Bulldogs.
He has kicked only six goals and taken four contested marks in five games this year and missed a month with a rib injury.
Jack Redpath and Lukas Webb also were axed for tomorrow’s Etihad Stadium clash with St Kilda.
The Dogs regained Jake Stringer from injury, recalled Shane Biggs and awarded 205cm ruckman-forward Tim English, 19, his first game. Tom Liberatore will have at least another week in the VFL and the Dogs have lost Stewart Crameri for the rest of the season after hip surgery.
Gold Coast star Gary Ablett won’t play against Melbourne in Alice Springs tomorrow because of shoulder soreness — a worrying sign given his history.
Suns general manager of football operations Marcus Ashcroft said Ablett had suffered the injury against Geelong in Round 7, but aggravated it against Port Adelaide in China.
Collingwood named defender Matt Scharenberg at half-back for Sunday’s game with Brisbane Lions after a strong vein of VFL form over the past month.
He hasn’t played an AFL game since 2015, and has managed only four in total, due to a wretched run of injuries.
Hawthorn has suffered a further blow with recruit Jaeger O’Meara, who hasn’t played since Round 6, now set to miss at least another three weeks, due to knee soreness.
The Hawks will unveil two debutants — Dallas Willsmore and James Cousins — in tonight’s SCG game against Sydney, after dropping Will Langford, Billy Hartung and Kurt Heatherley.
Nick Riewoldt won’t play for the Saints against the Bulldogs, with next week’s bye giving the veteran’s knee a fortnight’s rest.
Tom Bellchambers replaces Matthew Leuenberger (illness) in tomorrow night’s Dreamtime clash, while Josh Caddy and Todd Elton return for the Tigers.
West Coast coach Adam Simpson has swung the axe, dropping four players, while Steve Johnson (knee) and Rory Lobb (groin) won’t make the trip to Perth for the Giants.