Travis Cloke is a chance to become the first Magpie since Brian Taylor in 1986 (100 goals) to win the Coleman Medal as the league’s leading goal kicker.
The powerful Collingwood key forward is third in the race for the coveted award, six goals back from the leader, Hawthorn’s Lance Franklin, with six matches to play.
The 24-year-old is having arguably his best statistical year in his seven seasons of senior football averaging a career high 2.8 goals per game and is taking an extraordinary 4.4 contested marks per game.
Cloke’s strong hands have been a talking point all season with the Magpie expected to easily set a new AFL record for most contested marks in one season (needs six more to surpass the previous record set by Richmond's Matthew Richardson of 75 in 1999).
His kicking for goal has been a consistent feature with the 2007 Copeland Trophy winner averaging 60 per cent accuracy in front of the big sticks (his previous best was in 2008 with 61.5 per cent and 40 goals).
The opportunity to kick goals has also increased with Collingwood’s forward entries targeting Cloke 32 per cent of the time, up from 20 per cent last year.
His chances of topping the overall AFL goal kicking leader board this season receive a significant boost considering both Jack Riewoldt (50 goals) and Andrew Walker (44) face up coming byes (both players in the top five in the Coleman race).
Collingwoodfc.com.au has provided a table outlining the top five goal kickers in the league and their recent tallies against up coming opponents.
Cloke averages just under three goals per game in his most recent outings against Collingwood’s up coming six opponents.
| Player | Current total | R19 | R20 | R21 | R22 | R23 | R24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lance Franklin | 51 | Fre (2) | NM (5) | PA (3) | Carl (5) | WB (3) | GCS (3) |
| Jack Riewoldt | 50 | BYE | WC (10) | Syd (2) | Melb (1) | Adel (2) | NM (5) |
| Travis Cloke | 45 | Ess (3) | PA (2) | STK (3) | BL (0) | Fre (5) | Geel (2) |
| Andrew Walker | 44 | NM (0) | Melb (2) | Freo (0) | Haw (0) | BYE | STK (1) |
| Josh Kennedy | 44 | WB (10) | Rich (2) | Melb (2) | Ess (2) | BL (0) | Adel (1) |
Interesting to note that Cloke, Franklin, Walker and Riewoldt have all kicked a season-high six goals in one match while Kennedy has kicked 10.
If Cloke can kick 70 goals this season including the finals series, he will become the first Magpie since Saverio Rocca in 1997 (76) to do so.
Collingwood boasts just three Coleman medallists since the award was introduced in 1955 with Ian Brewer (1958 - 67 goals), Peter McKenna (1972 - 130, 1973 - 84) and Taylor (1986 - 100) having won the award.
