That is how Cloke sees things, with the Collingwood spearhead praising the support his coach has provided to him this season and throughout his career.
"I've got an outstanding relationship with ‘Bucks’ (Buckley). It's not just a football relationship, it's away from footy as well," Cloke told AFL.com.au.
"We communicate all the time – texts back and forth. When he's driving home he calls me up and we have a chat about things.
"He actually does care. I don't know if every senior coach can say that about his players, but he genuinely does."
Cloke was under fire after a drawn out form slump earlier this season, leading Buckley to publicly support his star forward.
"It's only a matter of time before he'll tear a game apart," Buckley said when defending Cloke's form in May.
At that stage of the year, Cloke had booted just nine goals in nine rounds of the season.
Following Buckley's comments the 27-year-old has turned things around significantly, kicking 22 goals in seven games to lead the Magpies' attack the way he knows how.
"It was more reassurance for me," Cloke said.
Cloke has faith in the processes he has put in place to aid his goalkicking.
He's put in a pile of work at training but, more acutely, his internal self-belief in his own ability has not wavered.
His 31 goals, 26 behinds reflects that newfound confidence.
"If I miss a goal, I don't dwell on it too much. I want the ball back. I want to have another shot. I want to perfect it," he said.
The ultimate challenge would be being faced with a set-shot to win a Grand Final after the siren, a scenario Cloke admits he thinks about quite often.
"I still want to believe that I could kick it. Hopefully I would get it and prove people wrong," he said.
Cloke also referenced his teammates for keeping him level-headed during one of the most challenging periods of his career.
"The people within these four walls of the Collingwood Football Club mean the most to me," Cloke said.
"For the first time I can really say it and mean it, because they are the people who care most about how I perform inside and outside the footy club."
