Past Tom Rockliff (2008-2017)

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Rockliff: Beams can take Lions to finals

Brisbane Lions captain Tom Rockliff says Dayne Beams is loving life in the sunshine state and is already having an impact at the AFL club.

Former Collingwood star Beams' move back to his home state was one of the biggest moves of the AFL off-season, uniting him with his brother Claye at the Lions.

He has hit the ground running, twice leading the club's possession count during their unbeaten NAB Challenge pre-season campaign.

Rockliff revealed Beams had bonded with new teammates off the field too, including a Saturday afternoon punting session at his place.

"He's had the boys over to the amazing mansion that he's got now," he said.

"He seems really relaxed off-field and from all reports he's in probably the best space he's been in for a long period of time.

"If we can translate that into the form he's shown through his footy career, especially 2010 and 2011, he can take his game to another level and we can be a part of that."

Rockliff believes he and the other Lions midfielders could be the biggest beneficiaries of Beams' arrival.

"It gives us a massive chop out," he said.

"Dayne is an elite midfielder and he's probably going to get the most attention out of us all.

"We've got to help him ... but it takes a bit of pressure off."

The injection of the All-Australian into an already talented midfield means finals aren't out of the question for Justin Leppitsch's side, which won just seven games in 2014.

Not that Rockliff is thinking that far ahead.

The first-year captain says the first month is crucial to Brisbane's season, with visits from Collingwood, Richmond and West Coast and a Q-Clash on the Gold Coast that could shape their year.

"We've got four games in Queensland (in our opening five) and if we can be 3-2 or 4-1, it'd be a really good start for us."

"When we get to round five we can re-assess (our finals hopes).

"I think we can do it if we get our contested footy right."
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Lace Out said:
Punting session :straining:
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o_O

BRISBANE captain Tom Rockliff expects to be more of a forward danger this season thanks to a beefed-up Lions midfield.

Rockliff managed 10 goals last year as he added an inaugural all-Australian jumper and second club best and fairest to his trophy cabinet.

The recruitment of Dayne Beams and Allen Christensen from Collingwood and Geelong respectively was considered a massive coup for Brisbane while ex-Blue Mitch Robinson appears a tantalising bonus.

“We’ve got a bit more depth so I’ll probably rest down forward instead of going off the ground as much,” Rockliff told the Herald Sun.

“Hopefully I’ll kick a few more goals and still do my thing through the midfield.”

After an off-season full of positive vibes, now it’s time for Brisbane to turn promise into premiership points. The Lions are not short on confidence and hope a favourable early draw will provide a springboard for the year.

“Our main focus is (Round 1 against) Collingwood at the moment but we think we’ve got a really good opportunity with having four games in Queensland in the first five,” Rockliff said.

“If we can get through that period and be four and one and set ourselves up from there then hopefully we can have a really good season.

“You never really know until probably the halfway mark whether you’re in finals contention or not. I think we’ve ticked all the boxes so far now it’s about implementing it during the season.”

Rockliff said ex-Magpie Beams would be peppered with questions from teammates anxious for pointers on opponents who will walk out on to the Gabba on Saturday night.

“He only left that footy club six months ago so he knows the game style, he knows everything about Bucks (coach Nathan Buckley), so much about the players, so hopefully we can tap into him and get a fair bit off him.”

The first-year captain could not speak highly enough of second-year coach Justin Leppitsch, who coaxed the young Lions to seven wins last year, and conceded to some “testing times” with former coach Michael Voss.

During 2013 he concedes he had a “little dabble” when rival clubs, including Melbourne, came knocking, but with a new coach at the helm, 12 months ago he signed a contract extension taking him through to the end of 2017.

“You always have a look what’s out there I suppose (but) Brisbane’s always done the right thing by me,” he said.

“When Leppa came on board — there was a fair bit of uncertainty through that period — but then Leppa was outstanding and I can’t speak highly enough of what him and his partner Christie, how good they’ve been for the whole footy club.”

“Leppa’s very calm and poised, he’s got a really good relationship with the players and gets his message across really well.

“(Leppitsch and Voss) are very different. They probably played that way a little bit as well. Leppa was probably more the jovial one and could have a joke where Vossy was probably a little bit more serious in his preparation and so on. They probably coach a little bit in that was as well.

“In saying that, they’re both outstanding people of our footy club, both legends of our footy club.”
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Easily one of the smartest marking forwards we have. He had to attend far too many centre bounces last year out of sheer necessity.

Resting him up forward will be a great wildcard in our deck.
 
TheBrownDog said:
Easily one of the smartest marking forwards we have. He had to attend far too many centre bounces last year out of sheer necessity.

Resting him up forward will be a great wildcard in our deck.
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If we can get the ball in quickly so that he's 1 on 1 he'll outplay his opponent the majority of the time. I consider him our best 1 on 1 marking player when he plays that forward role.

I wonder why teams let him go that 1 on 1 so often. I assume its because the ball just comes in quickly.
 
Panthera said:
This is beyond a joke; does anyone in the media have any ******* idea about AFL up there??? :mad:
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No... we've been saying this for years now. Southern folk really don't understate how much QLD doesnt give a s*** about AFL. But hey, who needa academies to help build the game or salary cap concessions to keep good players here some people notice the sport.

Champion data tweeted that Rocky is #1 in the comp for winning one on one contests since 2012. Winning around 55%. IIRC Danger was 2nd on around 49%.
 

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I don't get this, young gun Tommy has been sending me emails & letters to re-join the Lions. Something's not right somewhere!
 
Panthera said:
This is beyond a joke; does anyone in the media have any ******* idea about AFL up there??? :mad:
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Something I'm trying to remedy, if the stupid bastards would just give me a job...
 
Rockliff injury update

BRISBANE Lions captain Tom Rockliff has suspected broken ribs after a third-quarter incident against Collingwood on Saturday night.

Rockliff crumpled to the Gabba turf in agony after Magpies recruit Travis Varcoe flew for a mark at half-forward and accidentally kneed the new skipper in the ribs.

Rockliff lay prone for the next minute and was eventually assisted from the field by Lions medical staff.
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"I've heard mixed reports at this point in time," Leppitsch said.

"He may have been taken to hospital to make sure he didn't puncture a lung but I haven't got the final result.

"He doesn't go down for no reason. I knew it had to be something bad.

"He's a gun player, we'll miss him of course.

"It's going to test our leadership as much as anything because he's the best talker of our group, the best organiser of our group. It's going to be left to a few others to fill the void there."
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Didn't look in a great shape at all after that, tough guy to even walk off the field from the looks of how much pain he was in!
 
Interesting that we were trumpeting our midfield depth preseason but in fact we don't have much in the way of replacements. Golby played midfield in the ressies apparently which is pretty telling. The rest are all youngsters.
 
WhiteLionFeva said:
Interesting that we were trumpeting our midfield depth preseason but in fact we don't have much in the way of replacements. Golby played midfield in the ressies apparently which is pretty telling. The rest are all youngsters.
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I guess our midfield depth is contained within our starting side. Rich and CBeams could move up from the backline for example.
 
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