David Cloke (born 28 January 1955) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

and 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, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). A tough and skilled footballer with an imposing physique and trademark moustache, Cloke spent most of his career either in the ruck or as a key forward. His three sons also played football at AFL level.

VFL/AFL Career

Cloke began his senior football career with VFA club Oakleigh where he played alongside his brother

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, and in 1974 he went to Richmond. Cloke was a premiership player in his debut season with the Tigers and went on to play 219 VFL games from 1974 to 1982 (including another winning Grand Final in 1980) and in 1990–1991. In between, he played with Collingwood, where he added another 114 league games. Cloke kicked a total of 323 goals during his eighteen-season AFL career, before retiring in 1991. Cloke came second in the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

in 1984, 3 votes behind winner Peter Moore. He achieved All Australian selection after representing Victoria at the Perth State of Origin Carnival of 1979.

Post-AFL Career

In 1992, post his VFL/AFL career, he joined

Ainslie Football Club The Ainslie Football Club is a semi-professional Australian rules football club based in Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. The club was formed in 1927 and won its first premiership in 1929. Ex- St Kilda star Kevin Neale was captai ...

in the ACT as captain-coach, and guided them to a flag, a success repeated the following year when he won the

Alex Jesaulenko Oleksandr Vasiliovych "Alex" Jesaulenko ( ; , ; born 2 August 1945) is a former Australian rules footballer and who played for the Carlton Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He also served as a ...

Trophy for best afield in the grand final. Cloke's only club best and fairest award came in 1992 with Ainslie. He did, however, achieve All Australian selection after representing Victoria at the

1979 Perth State of Origin Carnival The 1979 Perth State of Origin Carnival was the 20th Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian football competition. It was the first carnival to take place under the Interstate matches in Australian rules football#State of origin, Sta ...

. He joined

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

club

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Port Phillip, Port Phillip Local government ...

as non-playing coach in 1994, although did come out of retirement to play a handful of games during the season due to his team's long injury list. David was inducted into Richmond's Hall of Fame in 2007.

Family

David's three sons,

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...

Cameron Cameron may refer to: People * Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan * Cameron (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Cameron (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) ;Mononym * Cam'ron (born 19 ...

and Travis were all originally recruited in the

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

for Collingwood. However, Jason has since been cut by the club before returning to play for Collingwood's VFL side, Williamstown and Cameron was recruited by Carlton in 2006 and then joined

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, 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 t ...

for one season in 2010. Cloke is married to Julie and they have five adult children, Jason, Cameron, Travis, Jodie and Teigan.

References

Bibliography

* Hogan P: ''The Tigers Of Old'', Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cloke, David Richmond Football Club players Richmond Football Club premiership players Collingwood Football Club players 1955 births Living people All-Australians (1953–1988) Victorian State of Origin players Port Melbourne Football Club coaches Port Melbourne Football Club players Ainslie Football Club players Ainslie Football Club coaches Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) VFL/AFL premiership players