Media articles and stats: Tigers go down to Pies by 34 pts

[one-eyed]

Cloke's seven sinks the dagger in Tigers
By Jacqui Reed
afl.com.au
05:15pm April 20, 2013

RICHMOND                    3.3   6.5   8.6  11.13  (79)                 
COLLINGWOOD           1.4   5.8   13.12  16.17 (113)           

GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 3, Vickery 2, McGuane 2, King, Edwards, Houli , Maric
Collingwood: Cloke 7, Sidebottom 4, Clarke, O'Brien, Elliott, Swan, Dwyer

BEST
Richmond: Cotchin, Deledio, Jackson, Martin, Houli
Collingwood: Cloke, Shaw, Fasolo, O'Brien, Reid, Sidebottom, Swan

INJURIES
Richmond: King (hamstring), Chaplin (head)
Collingwood: Brown (groin),

SUBSTITUTES
Richmond: Shane Tuck replaced by Brandon Ellis in the third quarter.
Collingwood: Josh Thomas replaced by Dale Thomas in the third quarter

CHANGES
Collingwood: Goldsack replaced in selected side by Macaffer

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Rosebury, Meredith, Mollison

Official crowd: 81,950 at the MCG

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

COLLINGWOOD spearhead Travis Cloke has booted a career-high seven goals to guide the Magpies to a 34 point win over Richmond at the MCG on Saturday.

The Magpies haven't lost a game to the Tigers since round 19, 2007, and they kept that record intact, winning 16.17(113) to 11.13 (79).

The Magpies trailed by three points at half-time, but Cloke turned it on after the main change.

Two 50 metre penalties saw Cloke boot the first two goals of the third quarter, and the game's tempo skyrocketed.

A monster grab against Alex Rance had Cloke fired up, and he delivered his third straight goal of the quarter to put the Pies up by 16 points.

The Tigers reacted by making their substitution, removing Shane Tuck and injecting Brandon Ellis.

But the Magpies kept the pressure up, bringing their own fresh legs on, with Dale Thomas replacing Josh Thomas within minutes of the Tigers change.

With the crowd involved, Cloke continued his rampage inside 50 metres, sinking an impressive goal from the boundary to take his game tally to six.

Richmond midfielder Steven Morris lost his cool, with a high bump on Dane Swan in the middle.

A push and shove in the centre square ensued.

It was the second time Morris collected a Magpie high, after delivering a high shepherd on Jamie Elliott in the second quarter.

The forward was left dazed, but recovered to play out the game.

Both incidents are likely to be looked at by the Match Review Panel.

Capping off a brilliant third term, Jamie Elliott launched for a magnificent pack mark, which resulted in a goal to extend the Pies lead to 49.
At this stage, the Tigers were still yet to register at statistic inside their own 50 metres for the quarter.

"Anytime you give up seven or eight goals in a quarter, it's game over," coach Damien Hardwick said on Saturday.

"It's probably the first time we've had seven or eight goals kicked against us for a fair period of time. Even last year we didn't have that."

Adding to the distress for the Tigers, Troy Chaplin was forced out of the game thanks to friendly fire, having received a knock to the head by teammate Chris Knights.

Magpie Jordan Russell also copped a hit to the head, after Trent Cotchin attempted to spoil a mark in the last term.

The Tigers made a late charge, and the momentum swung their way early in the last thanks to a 50 metre penalty against Heath Shaw.

Ivan Maric took advantage, kicking the goal to reduce the margin to 22 points.

But Dane Swan provided the steadying goal in his 200th game, while Cloke notched his seventh goal to put the result beyond doubt.

I thought he (Cloke) was huge," Pies coach Nathan Buckley said.

"He took 14 grabs, six contested a great game by any standards. Seven goals helps as well. I thought our ball use over the ground helped us and helped him."

For the Tigers, Cotchin was the most damaging player to three quarter time, with 24 touches and three tackles.

As a team, Richmond managed just four tackles in the third term.

Jack Riewoldt languished inside the forward 50 in the second half, but still registered 3 goals.

Despite a strong start to the game, the Tigers lacked composure going forward, allowing the Magpies to stay within striking distance.

"Whether fatigue set in or it was just poor attitudes, either way we have to fix that," Cotchin said.

Steele Sidebottom emerged as a vital cog in the Magpies charge, with four goals to his name.

The Magpies made one late change to the selected side, with Brent Maccaffer coming in for Tyson Goldsack.

Nathan Brown hobbled off the field in the last term, with early reports suggesting he has an adductor issue, which will put him in doubt for the club's Anzac Day clash with Essendon.

Jake King also left the field in the last quarter, with a possible corked buttock.

http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2013/4/rich-v-coll.workstation

[one-eyed]

Collingwood blitzed Richmond in the third quarter to seal an impressive win at the MCG

    AAP
    From: Herald Sun
    April 20, 2013 3:12PM

ON Friday, Travis Cloke put his dislocated finger back in its place.

Today, he put Richmond back in theirs with a stunning seven-goal haul to lift Collingwood past the Tigers by 34 points at the MCG.

The Magpies' 16.17 (113) to 11.13 (79) victory in front of more than 81,000 fans burst the Tigers' unbeaten bubble and showcased Collingwood's finals credentials on a day Richmond had desperately hoped to show their own.

Cloke had suffered a finger injury at training on match eve.

But after two quarters of arm-wrestling, Cloke put Richmond in the tightest of half-nelsons in the third term.

He booted the opening three goals of the quarter, then soon after gave his side a 30-point buffer with a quality 50-metre goal from deep in the right forward pocket.

It was part of a run of eight unanswered goals to start the term - the Magpies upping their tackling pressure and forcing Richmond into error after error.

With Steele Sidebottom also prominent with two of his four goals in the term and midfielder Dane Swan brilliant, the Magpies battered Richmond to take a 36-point lead to the final change.

The Tigers didn't give in, battling back to give themselves a sniff with goals to Jack Riewoldt and Ivan Maric to open the final term.

But Collingwood gained breathing space with a Swan mark and goal soon afterwards, before Cloke iced the match with a set shot from the left boundary line.

In his 200th AFL game, Swan had 35 possessions - 13 coming in the final quarter.

Collingwood's effort was made all the more meritorious with five of their best 22 missing through injury.

Magpies defender Nathan Brown might add to that list, with a groin injury sustained in the final term and just a five-day turnaround until their next game - the Anzac Day clash with Essendon.

Riewoldt booted three goals for the Tigers, who also lost key defender Troy Chaplin when concussed by a teammate, and small forward Jake King to what appeared to be a hamstring injury.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/afl/collingwood-blitzed-richmond-in-the-third-quarter-to-seal-an-impressive-win-at-the-mcg/story-e6frg1yl-1226625021443

[one-eyed]

The colour of Sonny

    Chloe Saltau
    The Age
    April 21, 2013

COLLINGWOOD 1.4 5.8 13.12 16.17 (113)
RICHMOND         3.3 6.5  8.6    11.13 (79)

GOALS
Collingwood: Cloke 7, Sidebottom 4, Swan, O'Brien, Elliott, Clarke, Dwyer.
Richmond: Riewoldt 3, McGuane 2, Vickery 2, Houli, Maric, King, Edwards.

BEST
Collingwood: Cloke, Swan, Sidebottom, Pendlebury, O'Brien, Shaw, Fasolo.
Richmond: Cotchin, Houli, Jackson, Deledio, Riewoldt.

UMPIRES Meredith, Mollison, Rosebury.
CROWD 81,950 at MCG.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Richmond didn't rise to the occasion but a Magpie with yellow and black in his bloodlines did.

Travis Cloke used the biggest game in 30 years between the two clubs his father represented to produce the biggest game of his career, and Richmond's reality check was all the more brutal for it.

Cloke kicked seven goals, a personal best, but he did more than that. He grabbed 14 marks, six of them contested. He kicked four of his goals when the game was tight, early in the third quarter. In Dane Swan's 200th game, he was the most influential player on the field in Collingwood's 34-point win.

And he let his opponent, Alex Rance, know about it. It was nothing personal, the laconic Cloke was anxious to point out later. He enjoys Rance's company when they bump into each other outside footy. He certainly enjoyed it on Saturday, defeating Rance in the air and giving him a mouthful after kicking his third goal of the second half.

''It's an emotional game. We both give a bit of lip back and forth but that's it, once the siren goes you have a bit of a laugh and a giggle and shake each other's hands,'' Cloke said.

''He never gives up. It showed in the last quarter he was all over us again. It was a great battle and I really enjoy playing against him. He's a great person off the field as well. It was nice to take a few clunks on him and hopefully get one up on him this time.''

Cloke broke the game open just when it needed breaking. Seconds before half-time, Richmond captain Trent Cotchin had crumbed and snapped the ball forward to Ty Vickery, who gave the Tigers a three-point lead. By three-quarter-time Collingwood had surged to a 36-point lead.

Cloke is in a ''good space at the moment'', not just because the contract talks that overshadowed his 2012 season are behind him.

The Magpies' forward structure has evolved since then. With mid-sized forwards such as Jamie Elliott capable of taking a strong mark and attracting a decent defender, Cloke is more often able to go up against one opponent, rather than crashing into two or three.

On Saturday, it helped that Collingwood's proven midfield out-gunned the Tigers' rising one. Swan led the way with 35 touches, 19 of them contested, and got better as the game motored on.

Many of the Tigers behind the club's three-zip start to the season were subdued. Even Cotchin, who led the way with 27 disposals, went quiet in the last quarter. And a few Tigers fluffed their lines; Ricky Petterd dropped a sitter in defence in the second quarter and was mugged by Cloke, who set up one of four goals for Steele Sidebottom.

Richmond outscored Collingwood in the final term, but Cloke still had his moment. As he lined up for his seventh goal from 45 metres out on a tight angle, the Tiger army in the northern stand unleashed a fearful spray. Though not renowned for his accuracy, Cloke threaded this one, and thrust a fist in the direction of his abusers. Had he not dislocated a finger during the week, which supposedly placed him in doubt for the blockbuster, it might have been a more inflammatory gesture.

''You would have spent some time in the crowd watching your old man from there, wouldn't you?'' coach Nathan Buckley said to Cloke afterwards. In fact, Travis didn't barrack either for Richmond, the club with which David won premierships in 1974 and 1980, or Collingwood when he was young. ''I didn't actually barrack for anyone. I just went most Friday nights and loved footy, that was about it,'' he said. ''I got told before they [the Richmond fans] were giving us a bit over the fence. I actually didn't notice at the time but I was obviously pretty excited to kick seven. I don't think I've done it before.''

It was a nice moment, too, for the Magpies, who held up the Tiger juggernaut and put their own season back on track after a sobering loss to Hawthorn. Swan had to be convinced to savour his moment, refusing to be carried off the field by his teammates. Instead, they held back and let him lead them down to the rooms.

DIVIDED DADS

The big clash between old rivals was even bigger for Kevin Morris and David Cloke, who represented both teams and had sons running around for opposing teams on the MCG. Morris played 111 games for Richmond and 71 for Collingwood, and his son Steven wasn't the most popular bloke on the ground after cleaning up Jamie Elliott with a head-high bump that will attract the interest of the match review panel, and later clipping Dane Swan high. There was much more love for Travis Cloke, whose dad played in two premierships for the Tigers and 114 games for the Magpies. Travis tore the game apart in the third quarter and finished with a career-best seven goals.

BLOCKBUSTER IN THE AFTERNOON

Those working out the fixture at AFL headquarters should take note, Melburnians quite like their football on Saturday afternoons at the MCG. It helped that both the Magpie and Tiger armies were up and about, but the crowd topped 80,000 for the first time for a meeting between these two clubs since 1983 when Kevin Bartlett played his 400th game.

JACK'S MATCH

Coleman medallist Jack Riewoldt has had a few tough outings against Collingwood, with only seven goals in four games. In last season's encounter, the Magpies held him goalless. He started with a bang on Saturday, grabbing a strong pack mark and kicking the first goal. But this was an honest performance rather than a spectacular one for Riewoldt, who finished with three goals and a bandaged head. He gave a few goals off to teammates too.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/the-colour-of-sonny-20130420-2i72d.html#ixzz2R21Jon9O

[one-eyed]

Travis Cloke's tower of strength seals crucial win for Collingwood

    Ron Reed
    From: Sunday Herald Sun
    April 21, 2013

IT took half a game to take shape but when it did Richmond's reality check was swift, savage and signed by a name known well to the Tigers of old.

Yesterday that faded triumph was brought back into focus when his son, Travis, went one better, booting seven for Collingwood, four in a barnstorming third quarter in which the Magpies came from three points down to lead by 34 at the last break and win by 37 points.
 
After starting the season with impressive wins over Carlton, St Kilda and the Bulldogs, this wasn't what the Tiger army had in mind for a rare milestone - the 200th match between the two ancient rivals.
 
The only club Richmond has played more often is Carlton - 210 times - while the Magpies, who have been in the competition more than a decade longer, have now run up double centuries against eight clubs.
 
Only Carlton has had the better of those long rivalries, with the Tigers getting further and further in arrears.
 
They have now lost to the Magpies six times in a row since last beating them in 2007, making the overall scorecard 84 to 115 with one draw.
 
This depressing statistical backdrop did nothing to dilute the wave of optimism that has seen the Tiger army swell week by week with its membership just short of 56,000 at last count, not far behind Collingwood's pace-setting 70,000.
 
The build-up was massive given this was a throwback to all that was best in footy back in the last century, before the VFL became the AFL.
 
Two big, proud and aggressive inner-city clubs going to war on the nation's finest sporting battleground on a sunny Saturday afternoon, which is, after all, when the good Lord meant footy to be played.
 
The planets do not align in this way very often nowadays but when they do the overworked term blockbuster earns its keep and there is nothing in the context of the national competition that beats it.
 
This one pulled 81,950 fans which is, of course, huge and yet slightly disappointing given the size of the respective armies and the added attraction that both have been in good form.
 
The MCG had expected 85,000.
 
Still, it marked the first time the Tigers had pulled 80,000-plus at two home and away games in one season.
 
They got great value for the first half, with the Tigers skipping slightly clear early and the lead chopping and changing, the margin never reaching two goals - until the Cloke factor intervened with such stunning impact.
 
As disappointing as that was, there was nobody looking for a cat to kick in the subdued dressing room afterwards, just the acceptance that things are still looking much more positive than they usually have at this stage of most recent seasons.
 
The Tigers do have a genuine belief they are going places this time.
 
Without exactly "taking the lid off", as they say, president Gary March made that clear at his pre-match lunch, which was packed to the rafters with the faithful, the friendly and the familiar.
 
Soccer star Harry Kewell, yachting legend John Bertrand and Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy were among many big names soaking up the buzz, even though Bertrand is a committed Magpie.
 
Old Tigers were out in force, too, including a very recognisable face in a yellow and black tie you don't often see him wearing - even Kevin Sheedy, the old back pocket from a lifetime ago, was back on his original bandwagon.
 
Sheeds, whose Greater Western Sydney boys will grace the MCG for the second time today, was taking notes as March spoke - furiously so when the Tigers boss revealed his deep admiration for Collingwood as a football club.
 
"They are the pre-eminent club in terms of their off-field activities and we aspire to be like them," March said, much to the approval of another guest, Magpie president Eddie McGuire.
 
Sheedy rolled his eyes when asked for his response to that. "For the president of Richmond to speak of respect and admiration for Collingwood ... that is of serious concern," he said, maybe tongue in cheek, maybe not.
 
But Sheedy is nothing if not a fan of footy in general and he definitely meant it when he added: "It is unbelievable to have 55,000 members and not having been anywhere near a Grand Final for three decades. Well done."
 
March, who said there had been "an eerie calm" at the club as they waited for this match to put their good start into perspective, said it was hard to believe how far it had come from the not-so-distant days when fans infamously dumped sheep's hearts on the club doorstep in disgust.
 
He said there was a point where the club was potentially on its way out of existence, as happened to another member of the old inner-suburban VFL family, Fitzroy.
 
But the fans were a resilient lot, he said.
 
Asked if he was confident this would not turn out to be another false dawn, a phantom revival, he said: "There will be times this year when we get beaten, times when we get beaten convincingly, but that's the nature of the competition.
 
"Across the board we're a pretty consistent side. For the first time, the fans think it is sustainable.
 
"For them there is a lot to like. Also we are playing the brand of football Richmond people like - hard, physical and congested."
 
So its a long way from the days of the doorstep disgust?
 
"It is and rightly so," March said. "The organisation was a bit of a rabble and to think we are now potentially the No.2 club for membership and are averaging 70,000 when we play at the MCG, that says people are buying into it."
 
And just for the record: Yes, he said, you can admire the Magpies but when it comes to on the field the operative words are still "loathe and detest".
 
It's never been any other way and never will. Sheeds can rest easy on that.

http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/travis-clokes-tower-of-strength-seals-crucial-win-for-collingwood/story-fndv8g1a-1226625095090

[Smokey]

Travis Cloke's tower of strength seals crucial win for Collingwood

    Ron Reed
    From: Sunday Herald Sun
    April 21, 2013

.........................

Yesterday that faded triumph was brought back into focus when his son, Travis, went one better, booting seven for Collingwood, four in a barnstorming third quarter in which the Magpies came from three points down to lead by 34 36 at the last break and win by 37 34 points.

Nothing like getting simple facts right is there.