Nathan Buckley has refused to publicly guarantee Travis Cloke a spot in Collingwood's team next week, despite the veteran playing his role "really well" in his senior return on Friday night.
Cloke, 29, kicked 2.2 from 14 disposals and seven marks in the Pies' 48-point win over Fremantle at the MCG, in what was just Cloke's second AFL appearance in 10 weeks.
But while Cloke's showing was solid, the looming return of Darcy Moore could force his older teammate out of the side after just one game. Cloke's first recall this season lasted just a week, after he was included for the round 11 match against Port Adelaide.
Moore may be available to face Carlton at the MCG next Saturday night, having missed a month of football with a fractured collarbone.
Asked directly whether Cloke would face the Blues, Buckley shirked the issue.
"Everyone wants that answer, and that's too simplistic," Buckley told ABC radio on Saturday.
"Clokey played his role really well in a really strong performance."
The Pies kicked just 12 goals from 65 inside 50s against the Dockers, and Buckley said he wanted more from his forward line. "We had 65 insides for 25 scores so you couldn't say that we converted as well as we would have liked from our opportunities but the opposition were getting quite a few numbers back, and that's probably why we had so many.
"We controlled field position, but we would have liked to score better for the opportunities we gave our forwards."
Cloke lost his spot in April to American giant Mason Cox, who like Cloke kicked two goals against Fremantle – albeit with fewer disposals and marks.
With Cox, Brodie Grundy and Jesse White in the Pies' team, Moore's inclusion could squeeze Cloke back to the VFL, although Buckley said the 196-centimetre White had to be differentiated from the others. "We don't see Jesse as a tall. We see him as a medium, mobile target, someone who can play deep if need be but more so in that transition phase of our offence.
"He's played that pretty well, and in that way he sort of separates him from our talls."
"The reason why Clokey was out of favour was because Darcy and Mason Cox were providing a better aerial target and hitting scoreboard more often, and playing the role better.
"So that's Clokey's challenge. We see Darcy as a player we want to get games into for his future, but he's also one of our best-performed key forwards. He competes in the air and on the ground, has been hitting the scoreboard regularly, without kicking bags. We see him as a player that makes us better in the short-term and the long-term. So there's competition for spots, which is a good position to be in ... not everyone fits in".
Overall Buckley said he was pleased with his side's showing against the Dockers, who had entered the match on the back of three straight wins. "It was a consistent performance bar the third quarter there for a period. We played the way we wanted to play.
"We went in with simplified plans, for want of a better term. We just reinforced over the bye the way we've been attempting to play our footy, make sure every individual's really clear on the impact they have on the team's performance."
Meanwhile Magpies defender Jeremy Howe confirmed on SEN that he is earning less money at the Pies than he was offered to stay at Melbourne. Howe has impressed in recent weeks after being traded from the Demons last off-season.
