Cloke could remain at Pies: Buckley

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says Travis Cloke could still be at the Pies in 2017, despite his request to move on.

Speaking on Fox Footy's AFL360 on Monday night, Buckley said that Cloke may be forced to honour his contract if it is in the best interests of the club.

“There’s two sides to it when you get in this position as a senior coach,” Buckley said.

“One is an understanding — and I’ve got a relationship with Travis over a long period of time and want to see him happy and playing his best footy — and if he feels that that’s going to be elsewhere then I need to listen to that.

“But the other side of that is that I’m the senior coach of the Collingwood Football Club and the club’s best interests are paramount.

“If we need to hold him to his contract we will but if we get fair compensation and it works in our favour and we can give Trav his wish whilst servicing Collingwood’s needs, well then we’ll do that.”

Cloke has said publicly that he wishes to be traded to the Western Bulldogs.

He booted 17 goals in 13 games this season, after being dropped from the senior side on three separate occasions during the year.