Coach’s vote of faith in Cloke

THE Western Bulldogs are confident Travis Cloke will come to love football again as he receives professional help for a mental health problem.

The Bulldogs on Thursday said Cloke would take an indefinite break from playing football as he dealt with the problem, but the 30-year-old plans to continue training with teammates.

Speaking at his regular weekly media conference yesterday, a concerned Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said the club would “wrap our arms around” the struggling key forward and provide all the support it could.

Beveridge said Cloke’s problem was not purely onfield football-related and he had been as shocked as anyone to hear about it.

“I suppose it probably always comes as a bit of a shock, whether it’s an AFL footballer or a brother, a sister, a friend. This time it’s Travis and we need to make sure we really support him,” he said.

“The pressure of the game is one thing but Travis has got other things going on his life that are compounding the mental wellbeing side of things. Quite often it’s really concerning and sometimes a bit sad but obviously these days there’s plenty of support and assistance around everyone and this time it’s Travis.”

While the club has put no time frame on a potential return, Cloke has indicated he wants to continue training so he is match fit when he is mentally ready to play.

Beveridge said the pressures on AFL players were “more and more year to year” and that Cloke had dealt with substantial pressure “throughout most of his career”.

“We know there’s always been that talk around his goalkicking and other things,” Beveridge said. “I’ve always marvelled at the way he’s managed that. But it’s not just his footy, there’s other things in his life that are really important to him that he needs to continue to manage.”