Strikes me that the club and Rocky have come to an arrangement if a club is willing to pay him silly money and we get band 1 comp then he is off. If clubs are only willing to pay a little bit more than us and we are only going to get pick 19 for him then we will consider offering him a little more depending on our needs through the trade period. I think the club and Rocky want to stay together but are doing there best for each party.
That's how I tend to read the current situation as well.
It's fortunate that Rockliff is a restricted free agent and that the Lions can match any offer from another club. Brisbane are prepared to let Rockliff go, but only if there is a very good reason to do so. Pick 2 is that very good reason, Pick 18/19 may not be.
To me IF Rockliff decided to nominate for example Carlton (who appear to be the front-runners at the moment) it might play out similar to the Dangerfield to Geelong trade. Dangerfield told Adelaide he wanted to exercise his rights as a restricted free agent and join Geelong at the end of the season. The Cats did not lodge an offer for Dangerfield but rather went straight to a trade.
David Noble, who negotiated the Dangerfield trade, said at the time the trade provided
more compensation than would have been available under free agency rules, which he said left affected clubs with little room to move.
So IF Rockliff nominates Carlton as his preferred club, because of an unofficial offer from the Blues, depending on that offer, Brisbane may tell Carlton that they will match an offer in order to force a trade. That trade would provide more compensation than would have been available under free agency rules.
For Dangerfield the Cats gave up midfielder Dean Gore as well as picks #9 and #28. The Cats gained Dangerfield and Adelaide's third-round draft pick which at that time was #50.
Now Rockliff clearly isn't in the class of Dangerfield, but he's still a very good player. The question to be asked is will Brisbane let Rockiff go for a compensatory pick at either Pick 18 or 19 or will they try and force a trade for something better? At the moment Carlton have Pick 3 as their only pick in the first two rounds, but may have other picks coming in if Gibbs is traded to Adelaide. Currently Port Adelaide (the other club linked with Rockliff) have Pick 29 as their first pick in the draft.