BULLISH Brisbane Lion Tom Rockliff says his team is confident of springing a huge surprise and taking down premiers Hawthorn in Launceston on Saturday.
The Lions midfielder was talking a big game just a day after signing a three-year contract extension with the club, saying there was never a better time to play the reigning premier.
Rockliff said the Lions would get in the face of the Hawks in an attempt to stifle their precise ball movement.
He said there would be no scars from the 131-point drubbing handed out by the same opponent in the NAB Challenge just five weeks ago, with the Lions to field an almost completely new team in Tasmania.
"We think we've got a team that can go down there and bring the four points home," Rockliff said following training at the Gabba on Thursday.
"We're not going down there to just have a hit-out and test ourselves against the best. We want get in their face and see what we can produce down there."
Former captain Jonathan Brown has done enough to convince coaching staff he is right to play after a frustrating pre-season marred by foot injuries.
The Lions will also unveil a number of debutants, including no.7 pick from the 2013 NAB AFL Draft James Aish and 2012 key forward draftee Michael Close.
Hawthorn is a perfect three from three in its pre-season with thumping wins over the Lions, North Melbourne and Melbourne.
While a Lions victory would almost match the upset sprung by Greater Western Sydney over the Swans last weekend, Rockliff said his club were not daunted.
"It's a really good opportunity to get Hawthorn in round one … no better week to get them we feel," he said.
"We think throughout the NAB Challenge they've had it on their terms and we plan to go down there and get it on our terms early and see what happens."
The 24-year-old said experts were too quick to forget the Lions narrowly missed the finals last season.
He said with 17 players extending contracts in the past 12 months, there was a fresh feel under new coach Justin Leppitsch, and success was not far away.
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