Cameron Cloke (born 20 December 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club ...

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of ...

and

Port Adelaide Football Club Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed the Power, whilst its reserv ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the son of former and Collingwood player,

David Cloke David Cloke (born 28 January 1955) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club and the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A tough and skilled footballer with an imposing phy ...

and the brother of

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek mythology, mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was marri ...

and Travis Cloke.

AFL career

Cloke was drafted under the father-son rule in the 2002 National draft. Like his older brother

, Cloke was given time to develop at Williamstown in his first year at Collingwood. Cloke made his debut against

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and played mostly as a tall forward. He played most of the first half of the

2005 AFL season The 2005 AFL season was the 109th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured si ...

as a ruckman and used his size well, however Cloke's season was ended by shoulder injury. More shoulder injuries occurred for Cloke in 2006 and managed only two senior games for the year. Cloke and his brother Jason were delisted by Collingwood at the end of the 2006 season but Cloke was given a second chance at AFL level when he was selected in the pre-season draft by Carlton with their second round selection (ninth pick overall). He enjoyed a great start to his career at Carlton, which saw him play a key second ruck role during the Blues' successful 2007 NAB Cup campaign. On 9 May

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

, during a routine training drill, Cloke sustained a season-ending injury by dislocating his shoulder. Upon return in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

, Cloke resumed his place in the Carlton ruck line-up, often playing as the first ruckman for the team or floating forward to provide a marking option. On 6 February 2009 during an intra-club match at Visy Park, Cloke was punched and kicked in an off the ball incident by teammate

Setanta Ó hAilpín Setanta Ó hAilpín (born 18 March 1983) is a Fijian-Irish sportsman. He played hurling at senior level for the Cork county team before becoming a professional Australian rules footballer. Ó hAilpín is of mixed Irish and Rotuman background ...

. Ó hAilpín was suspended by the club for about a month as a result of the incident. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Cloke moved out of the main ruck position, playing more exclusively as a tall forward who would take ruck tap-outs in the forward line. He struggled to maintain a regular position in the Carlton lineup, playing 10 games with the Blues and half of the season with Carlton's , the

Northern Bullants The Preston Football Club, which trades and plays as the Northern Bullants, is a long-established Australian rules football club based in Preston that plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It plays its home games at the Preston City O ...

, where he scored 39 goals in 13 games, including five in a losing grand final, to be the Bullants' leading goalkicker for the year. On 24 August 2009, Cloke was suspended by Carlton for one game for being late to a recovery session. Cloke was delisted by Carlton on 13 November 2009. There were talks that AFL clubs Hawthorn,

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

were interested in recruiting Cloke in the 2010 pre-season draft. Cloke was ultimately recruited in the Rookie Draft by Port Adelaide with its third round pick (41). His first and only match for Port was against

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

in round 3,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, and spent most of the season allocated to the

Port Adelaide Magpies Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed ...

in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as th ...

(SANFL). Cloke was delisted at the end of the 2010 season. Cloke played the following decade with success at suburban level. He played for Bundoora in the

Northern Football League The Northern League is a men's football league in north east England. Having been founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest football league in the world still in existence after the English Football League. It contains two divisions; Division ...

(NFL) from 2011 until 2014, winning Division 1 premierships there in 2011 and 2013. In 2013, he won the Frank Rosbrook Trophy as the best and fairest in the NFL top division; in an unusual case, Cloke was initially announced as the joint-winner with Mark Lynch (

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

) when the award was counted in September 2013; but in February 2014, an administrative error which incorrectly credited Lynch three extra votes was uncovered, leading the NFL to amend its records and award Cloke the trophy outright. He later played for Craigieburn in the

Essendon District Football League The Essendon District Football League (EDFL) is a professional Australian rules football league competition based in Essendon, Victoria, consisting of teams based in the north-west suburbs of Melbourne. Founded in 1930, the men's competition ...

in 2015 and 2016; Jacana (EDFL) in 2017 and 2019, where he won a Division 2 premiership in 2017; Hurstbridge (NFL) in 2018 and 2021; Barooga (

Murray Football League The Murray Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league affiliated with the Victorian Country Football League. The league covers a large area of northern Victoria and southern New South Wales from Shepparton in ...

) also in 2018; and Templestowe ( Eastern Football League) in 2022 and 2023, before retiring. He also made two guest appearances for the

Burnie Dockers Football Club Burnie Dockers Football Club is an Australian rules football club in Burnie, Tasmania, Australia. The club currently competes in the North West Football League (NWFL). Club history The Burnie Dockers were formed as a result of a merger betwe ...

in the TSL in 2015.

References

External links