- A Collingwood player was injured in a match against Queensland
- His father, a legend of the Magpies and the Tigers, lashed out against the attack
Former Collingwood AFL star Jason Cloke has been rushed to hospital after allegedly being elbowed on the ground during a football match that was called off by referees.
The hit on the 42-year-old during an AFL Masters over-35s match on Saturday sparked a furious response from Cloke’s father, football legend David, who branded the league “weak as f**k” following the incident.
Jason Cloke was captain of the Broadbeach Cats when they had a physical altercation with the Burleigh Bombers.
As the teams separated, one of the Bombers players appeared to suddenly turn around and elbow an unsuspecting Cloke in the face, causing him to fall hard to the ground and lie sprawled on the turf.
Queensland Police are investigating the incident, which saw Cloke rushed to Pindara Private Hospital on the Gold Coast where he stayed overnight and underwent a CT scan.
Cloke posted images and videos of the crash and her hospital stay on Instagram, along with the caption: “A lot of people asking me why I was in the hospital. Check out the video below.”
AFL Masters Queensland chairman Sam French said the league could not take action until it received the referee’s report on the match.
David Cloke, whose other star AFL son Cameron was seriously injured when he was cowardly punched during a match in Victoria last year, lashed out on Sunday.
Jason Cloke (pictured playing for Collingwood in 2003) was taken to hospital and had to stay overnight after appearing to be elbowed in the head during a match on Saturday.
Video footage shows the player in the red No.22 jersey allegedly elbowing Cloke (pictured) to the head as a fight broke up.
“The last time it happened to Cameron, nothing was done. The league did nothing about it. The player has returned to play this year,” he said. News Corporation.
“It’s very weak. The AFL is very weak.
‘These people should be banned from playing ever again, but the AFL is doing nothing about it.
‘Why do you think most AFL footballers, once they retire, don’t want to play football again?
“I have a nine-year-old granddaughter who plays football. I don’t want her to play anymore. This is absolute nonsense.”
David Cloke played a total of 333 top-flight games for Richmond and the Magpies in a distinguished career that lasted from 1974 to 1991.
Jason’s father David (pictured) criticised the AFL for failing to weed out violent players and said he now does not want his granddaughter to play football any more.
David’s other star AFL son Cameron (pictured centre at a 2014 match) was felled by an off-ball hit during a game in Melbourne in 2023.
Last May, former Carlton, Magpies and Power star Cameron Cloke was crushed in an incident caught on camera as Templestowe’s Eastern Football League clash with Boronia was about to kick off in Melbourne.
He appeared to have been hit in the head by an opponent as he prepared for the first rebound.
Cloke did not participate in the game after the incident and went to hospital complaining of headaches and inability to sleep.
“I’ve had two serious concussions this year, so I won’t be playing again this year. I’ll focus on training and my kids,” he said afterwards.
“I can’t have my children with me – I have a two-year-old, a four-year-old and a nine-year-old stepson – and I can’t let them see me the way I was at the weekend.”