Tom Rockliff was a very strong favourite to take home his second Merrett-Murray Medal but many thought he would face stiff opposition from Dayne Zorko, Joel Patfull, Pearce Hanley and even first year tyros Lewis Taylor and James Aish.
After a season of transition, which saw ten young Lions debut in the AFL, the night offered a chance to reflect on the improvement made on the field. While the campaign got off to a slow start there was a significant improvement in performance in the second half of the season with great wins against North Melbourne, Gold Coast and most impressively over Collingwood.
A definite highlight of the evening for me was the speeches from the Lions retirees Brent Moloney, Simon Black, Jonathan Brown and Ash McGrath.
Moloney was first up and kept it short and sweet and spoke fondly of his short time at the Club. A strong aspect of his speech was directed at the younger players in the room, imploring them to aim for finals as soon as next year and not to wait for the future. Moloney’s own experience of playing finals in the first couple of years of his career in the AFL and then not experiencing them again at all should be used as motivation he said.
The speeches of the Lions premiership players Black, Brown and McGrath were excellent. They provided some laughs, spoke of the enormous dedication and commitment required to play the game for as long as they did at AFL level and did not forget to thank all those at the Club that have made their experience in Brisbane so enjoyable. Their ability to tell a story was fantastic and as a fan you didn’t want them to stop regaling the audience with their look back in time.
As Moloney did earlier in the evening Jonathan Brown also had a message for the new young Lions based on his experience of winning premierships. He said it has provided the greatest memories that he has ever had as a professional footballer and it is something that he hopes they can all experience together at the Lions in the future. It was a poignant moment in Brown’s speech when talking about his on-field career.
The formalities of the evening culminated in the announcement of the winner of the 2014 Merrett-Murray Medallist as Tom Rockliff for the second time in his career.
It was a tremendous season in which he led the Club admirably on the field as Vice-Captain to Jed Adcock. It didn’t matter whether he was winning the football in the contest, laying tackles, receiving the ball in space after yet another gut run the length of the Gabba or kicking goals there was nothing that Rockliff did not do on field this year for the Lions cause.
Rockliff was a deserved winner and spoke well, particularly for his love of the Club and his teammates and believed that the message that the Lions are a “family” with strong bonds is something that will hold this young group in good stead as they climb back up the ladder in the near future.
I had the privilege of speaking with Rockliff after his win to get a few of his thoughts:
Carl Nimb: Back in 2008 you were overlooked in the Draft and were training with Melbourne at the start of the pre-season. How much has that experience driven you to become the footballer you are today and a two time Merrett-Murray Medallist at Brisbane?
Tom Rockliff: I wanted to get on a list and any list for that matter, and Brisbane gave me an opportunity and I feel like I am forever indebted to the Club. Hopefully I finish as a one-club player and hang around for my entire lifetime. It has been a good journey so far and hopefully we can have some success together.
You are the Vice-Captain now – is the Captaincy of the Lions a goal for you in the future?
If that comes up down the track I would grab it with both hands. At the moment we have Jed Adcock who is an outstanding leader for the group. If I do become Captain in the future it is certainly something that I will cherish and I would love to lead the boys in the future.
As you mentioned you currently have Jed as the Captain and you have previously had Jonathan Brown as well. How influential have they been from a leadership point of view for you personally?
I have taken bits and pieces from each of them from a leadership point of view but ultimately you have to lead in your own way and that’s what I will continue to do.
Last year you went to the 2103 NAB AFL Draft and personally welcomed all the new draftees to the Brisbane Lions. Will you be heading to the draft again this year to do the same thing?
Yes, I will be heading there again. Last year it was a bit off the cuff but I thought it was a good idea to welcome the new boys to the footy club and I enjoyed being there and doing that for those guys.
The Club tonight has preached a “family” mantra that everyone is in this together. On the back of the changes made this year are you guys now confident of having players re-sign with Club and attracting talent to come to the Gabba?
I think that the group that we have here at the moment really wants to be here and stick together and we have had something like 15 players sign on to stay which I think is great for the future.
At the moment you have a really young forward structure with Michael Close, Jonathan Freeman and Daniel McStay. Do you see this as the Lions future forward structure?
I think we have a great start to a forward line and with the help they are getting with Browny sticking around the Club it’s going to help them tremendously. There are great signs for the future.
One final one – Will we see Killa with the Merrett-Murray Medal around his neck on Instagram at some stage this week?
Maybe we will see (laughs).
