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 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 sur ...

, 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 VFL 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 t ...

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

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

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

club

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city List of Melbourne suburbs, suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of ...

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 featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He ...

, Cameron and Travis were all originally recruited in the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

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 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 (Australia) Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership players