Travis Cloke has escaped the Collingwood Magpies and is slotted to join the Western Bulldogs. There is still a minor issue of what the Magpies will receive in the way of compensation from the Bulldogs, but it is not thought that they will have to five up much in the way of draft value, since the Pies have other priorities with regard to recruiting and also need to gain some cap space.
Cloke will be working on a two-year contract that will pay him much less than what he made this year, $450,000 versus the $800,000 he earned from Collingwood.
Rumours indicate that Collingwood will get nothing better than a pick outside the second round, although they might seek to take a player from the Bulldogs’ list who has not gotten many opportunities to get on ground.
The Pies have created some cap room through the retirement of Dane Swan and Alan Toovey and it seems likely that defender Nathan Brown will be lost to free agency.
They can benefit from that space if they are to be successful in acquiring North Melbourne’s Daniel Wells via the free agent route and they have their eyes on the Docker’s Chris Mayne.
Cloke did not have anything resembling a banner year in 2016, kicking just 17 goals in thirteen games, but the Bulldogs seem to view the former All-Australian as a potentially valuable cog for their next campaign.
