Brisbane Lions Captain Tom Rockliff says the buck stops with him, and has vowed an improved team performance to the Club’s members and supporters in Saturday’s QClash against the Gold Coast Suns at Metricon Stadium.
"I know I'm sick of sitting down the bottom of the ladder and every year giving this promise to our members and supporters that we're going to improve and go up the ladder,” said Rockliff.
"The talking's done for me. We need to improve as a group and it starts with me as captain of the Footy Club and works its way through the playing group.”
Rockliff returned from just two weeks out with broken ribs and a punctured lung to be greeted by a 53-point loss at the hands of the Eagles at the Gabba.
Rockliff was happy to wear some of the blame himself, describing his own performance as poor.
The only way out of the current slump, he added, was hard work.
"It's a really character-building time for us now and it's time to show a bit of character and show a bit of fighting spirit and the only way you do that is the way you attack the footy, the way you attack the opposition and it's a good opportunity this week,” said Rockliff.
"One win for a group, especially where we are, it builds momentum and you get that belief when you get the win. We've got to get back to playing that free-flowing footy."
Rockliff said Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch had reiterated to the players that they would not be chastised for making mistakes.
In the wake of Sunday's loss, Leppitsch implored his team to continue taking the game on despite turnovers in the forward half leading directly to six West Coast goals by half-time.
"We can't go down playing conservative, old footy and kick to contest to contest to contest, because I don't think there's much solution in that either," Leppitsch said.
