It’s no secret that football is becoming more corporate. Bigger salary caps, free agency and two new expansion clubs have meant there’s been more money on offer in recent seasons than ever before.
For the stars of the competition, this has presented a dilemma. Should players set themselves up for life financially or stay true to their teammates and club? From an outsider’s perspective, competing offers of million dollar contracts seem like good problems to have, but they can certainly take a mental toll on the players involved.
Travis Cloke is a one-club player, and will most likely finish his career as a Collingwood great, but during the 2012 season he was swept up in a chaotic wave of speculation surrounding the possibility he could leave the Magpies.
“The 12-18 months that have just past have been the darkest times for me personally, for the grief that I copped” – Travis Cloke.
“The 12-18 months that have just past have been the darkest times for me personally, for the grief that I copped,” Cloke says.
“You try and say you don’t read papers, you don’t read social media but it’s everywhere now. I had my car vandalised, I had things stuck to my house. It’s one of the main reasons I moved out of the inner suburbs of Richmond”.
While Cloke loves playing football, he welcomes the opportunity to pursue other interests at the end of each season.
“When I head overseas at the end of the year I take the camera and sketchbook with me, and do a few drawings, take a few photos. It just takes you away from the busyness of Melbourne and AFL football” he says.
“I’m a bit of an arty person. I enjoy just going out, drawing pictures, taking photos. I struggled academically at school (but) I was arts captain at Yarra Valley grammar.”
Cloke’s love for art will be of no surprise to anyone who’s seen him without a Collingwood guernsey on; his back is covered in tattoos.
“I heard a quote: ‘what we do now echoes in eternity’, so it clicked with me and I thought it’s something that I’d like to live my life by,” Cloke says.
“I had that tattooed on my back.”
He also has an eternity symbol tattooed behind his ear. He’s far from the only tattooed player at Collingwood – teammates Dane Swan, Dayne Beams and Harry O’Brien are also heavily inked.
After a difficult 2012, Cloke feels more comfortable than ever at Collingwood.
“Right now, I couldn’t be in a better mindset. If you’d asked me that 3-4 months ago, it’d be the total opposite still, but right now I’m sitting here as a happy person, enjoying life and looking forward to what’s to come in the near future.”
With September around the corner for Cloke and his Magpies, his end of season trip overseas to pursue artistic interests will have to wait.
Words by Sam McInerney