On an important day when the Brisbane Lions celebrated their proud heritage, reigning Club Champion Tom Rockliff certainly rose to the occasion.

Rockliff produced an outstanding four-quarter effort against the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium, collecting an equal merged Club record 40 disposals in the process.

It was only the second time since the 1996 merger that a Lions player had accumulated 40 possessions in a single match.

The record is now shared with former Lions champion Luke Power, who enjoyed a night out against the Adelaide Crows back in 2008 at the Gabba in a scintillating midfield display.

It was no surprise that Power’s performance earned him three votes on Brownlow Medal night - and Rockliff can probably expect the same later in the year.

Rockliff said the entire team had discussed the importance of the Round 13 match in recognising and honouring the Club’s history, and went on to deliver one of their most complete performances in recent seasons.

“It’s really bizarre that you can lift for occasions for this,” Rockliff told Melbourne’s SEN radio on Tuesday morning.

“But it’s important that we back it up now. There’s no point doing it for one week, and then getting blown out of the park next week.”

Rockliff also spoke about the emergence of popular team-mate Dayne Zorko, who has become a revelation after just six senior AFL matches.

“I played pretty much all my first season (with the Lions) in the QAFL, and remember Jack Redden and me punching on with Dayne down at Broadbeach one day,” Rockliff laughed.

“He’d been getting tagged in the local competition week-in and week-out for the past 4-5 years. Now he’s come to the Lions and given us some real life in the forward line.”

“It’s great to see him get his chance. He’s going to be an important link to our team moving forward.”