He enjoyed a great start to his career at Carlton, which saw him play a key second ruck role during the Blues' successful 2007 NAB Cup campaign.
Upon return in 2008, Cloke resumed his place in the Carlton ruck line-up, often playing as the first ruckman for the team or floating forward to provide a marking option.
On 6 February 2009 during an intra-club match at Visy Park, Cloke was punched and kicked in an off the ball incident by teammate Setanta Ó hAilpín.
There were talks that AFL clubs Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and Richmond were interested in recruiting Cloke in the 2010 pre-season draft.
[3] In 2013, he won the Frank Rosbrook Trophy as the best and fairest in the NFL top division; in an unusual case, Cloke was initially announced as the joint-winner with Mark Lynch (Heidelberg) when the award was counted in September 2013; but in February 2014, an administrative error which incorrectly credited Lynch three extra votes was uncovered, leading the NFL to amend its records and award Cloke the trophy outright.