Collingwood AFL coach Nathan Buckley hit out on Tuesday at what he described as the disproportionate interest in All-Australian forward Travis Cloke’s contract negotiations.

Despite reports Melbourne and Fremantle have made lucrative offers to Cloke’s management, Buckley is confident the power forward will remain at the club.

“We are having discussions with all our uncontracted players,” Buckley told reporters.

“There’s a disproportionate amount of focus on Travis.

“We don’t really want to buy into that.

“We think that things are going along particularly well with his situation.

“None of us, even you guys (reporters), can control the animal that the media is. Once it gets a bit of momentum, it’s pretty hard to stop.

“Before you know, it’s gigantic and that’s exactly where we’re at. Our focus lies on (Saturday night’s clash with) Geelong.

“Things have been far more amicable than people give credence to.

“I’m not here to talk about Travis individually from this point on.”

Buckley said he didn’t dread facing media conferences like then-Geelong coach Mark Thompson did in 2010 amid speculation Gary Ablett would defect to Gold Coast, which he did at the end of the season.

“I don’t have the same fears that he may have had about Gary at that time,” Buckley said.

“I’m very confident that we’ll retain all the players that we want to retain.”

Thompson told Fox Footy’s AFL 360 program the Ablett situation was a distraction for the team in 2010. The defending premiers eventually crashed out in the preliminary final.

“Every time I went up (for a media conference), it got mentioned and, in the end, it’s not about one person,” Thompson said on Monday.

“You want to talk about the game, you want to talk about certain things and it just kept going back to whether Gary was going to leave or stay.”

Buckley said champion midfielder Scott Pendlebury was close to being given the all-clear by medical staff to make a comeback from a fractured tibia he suffered against Gold Coast on June 3.

Dale Thomas has been constantly icing his bruised foot in a bid to be fit to take on the Cats, while Chris Tarrant is pushing for a recall.

However, 18-year-old Marley Williams is set to have shoulder surgery after breaking down in last week’s upset loss to Carlton, Buckley added.

Collingwood’s Sharrod Wellingham has accepted a three-game suspension after breaking Kade Simpson’s jaw in a marking contest.