David Cloke has slammed Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley and the side's midfield for the demise of his son Travis at the Magpies.
Cloke said Travis is flying at the Western Bulldogs, and put that down to coach Luke Beveridge and the Dogs' game plan.
“It’s the style of game under Buckley,” Cloke said.
“The Bulldogs run and carry, Collingwood don’t run and carry the ball.
“And it goes back to the coach. I’ve heard people say leave Bucks alone, that it’s the players... well, it’s not.
“He’s the head coach, he’s in charge of it.
“He’s got rid of all the players who wanted to run and carry the ball. He got rid of Heath Shaw. He got rid of Harry O’Brien. Nick Maxwell retired and they never replaced them with players who ran and carried the ball.
“The thing is, Travis has got a coach who’s got a game style which wants to get the ball into the forward line.
Cloke believes the same thing will happen with current Collingwood key forward Darcy Moore, as Buckley's system will continue to go against Moore.
“Whereas at Collingwood... and they’re doing the same with Darcy Moore now.
“They will destroy him because they have a game style which revolves around their midfielders getting high possessions, but don’t get the ball into their forward half.
“Last year, everyone wanted to say it was Travis’ fault, but a forward in today’s football can’t do any good if the side is not getting the ball in properly.”
After opting out of his final year at the Magpies, Cloke was traded to the Bulldogs last year for pick 76, and has started the season strongly with four goals.
“He’s happy now. He’s getting a game, he’s doing what they wanted him to do, it’s working well and he’s got a coach who has shown confidence in him,” he said.
“They got him, they wanted him to play a role they needed him to play for them.
“All Collingwood has concentrated on is getting a midfield, getting all these players in the midfield.
“What they need to do is get a game plan which tries to win games of football.
“Everyone says have a look at their mighty midfield, but they don’t get the ball into the forward half quickly enough, they don’t get it in directly enough and when they do get it in, they have to go so wide and players are missing shots.
“The mids get it and blast away. They don’t man up, they don’t go defensive. Who runs the ball out of the back half?”