Football is full of sliding doors moments – from a heartbreaking bounce on game day which can be the difference between a flag and a drawn grand final, to contract decisions by the game's best coaches and players.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As Travis Cloke's career hits the stalled – and possibly end – button at Collingwood, it's worth remembering the opportunity to join Carlton presented itself after the 2012 season, when Cloke's contract negotiations with the Pies were dragging on.
Fairfax Media has been told the Blues were offering a five-year, $5 million deal, although there would have been trigger clauses surrounding that fifth year, as there are with the Pies.
At the time, the Blues publicly underplayed their interest, knowing Cloke was unlikely to leave and not wanting to appear as if they had missed out on landing a big fish. But they were keen.
"We offered him a five-year deal," a one-time Blue said.
In hindsight, would he have been better served by heading to Princes Park, where former Pies' mentor, and new Blues' coach, Mick Malthouse, was waiting?
"Now, probably yes. But who knows? It's been an amazing fall off. He was the best contested mark in the game, other than his kicking. He was a genuine star," another former Blue said.
"We played finals – he would have helped us win another final. We won a couple – we just didn't have the class up forward, once Fevola was gone."
The Blues, by default when Essendon was banned, made the finals in Malthouse's first year. They crunched the Tigers after half-time in the elimination final but would lose to the Swans a week later. They haven't been back since.
Cloke was still a force for the Pies in 2012 and 2013, when they fell in preliminary and elimination finals, respectively. But his returns in terms of goals and contested marks have dropped since. He was usurped by small forward Jamie Elliott as the leading goal-kicker last season and, after early-season struggles this year, has been replaced by American import Mason Cox up forward.
Had he joined the Blues, he would have been an intimidating one-two punch alongside Jarrad Waite. His presence alone may have been enough to keep Waite in 2014 when he left as an unrestricted free agent. He would also have presented more goal-kicking opportunities for crumbers Eddie Betts, Jeff Garlett, Andrew Walker and Chris Yarran – of which only Walker remains. Supply through the likes of Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Chris Judd would have been plentiful.
Cloke, having served under Malthouse for all but one season until 2012, would not have needed any time adjusting to a game plan others struggled with at Princes Park.
"Yeah, it could have been a sliding doors moment for Cloke and the Blues. But we'll never really know. Would he have made a major difference? Maybe. Maybe they get over the line against the Swans but were they really going to win it [the flag]? Maybe seven wins in 2014 becomes 10, but they still don't play finals," said one rival official.
The Blues are still searching for a blue-chip power forward. Cloke, no longer an asset of that value, may be available once again at the end of this season. But there appears little chance of a shift across town, even at a heavily reduced rate of his $800,000 this season.
The boundary-laden game plan that he could have flourished under during the Malthouse era has gone. It's now team defence, the Brendon Bolton way. It's also said rivals have worked out Cloke's leading patterns, leaving him languishing in the VFL.
"He hasn't been in that position for the majority of his career, so it's something he's still learning to work through that," Pies coach Nathan Buckley recently said of the 2010 premiership star's struggles.
For Cloke, however, there's no time to dwell on sliding doors. It's simply about trying to force open the door back into the Pies' senior line up.
