Yet until last Saturday, contested marking would not have been considered one of his most obvious strengths.
But the 22 year-old looks to have added to his ever-growing repertoire of on-field abilities over summer.
Playing in a makeshift role up forward, Rockliff proved unstoppable in one-on-one marking contests despite giving away plenty of size to his far bigger opponents.
Such was his impact, he is now ranked equal first across the entire AFL competition - alongside Collingwood power forward Travis Cloke - in contested marks after taking six of them against the Demons.
Among the 183cm midfielder’s more memorable contested marks were a classic one-hander and a spectacular grab between his legs.
He also took six marks inside 50m - which is another AFL-high.
Rockliff finished the match with an equal game-high 10 marks (tied with Cheynee Stiller) to go along with 23 disposals and three goals.
Meanwhile his highly credentialed team-mate Simon Black started the new season in style with 30 disposals and 10 tackles. Black’s 10 tackles was among the top handful from across the League.
Another fascinating stat came from ruckman Ben Hudson who shone during his first match in Lions colours.
Hudson worked in tandem with Matthew Leuenberger to combat Melbourne giant Mark Jamar in the ruck, but also ignited a number of the team’s centre clearances.
In fact, the 33 year-old debutant collected 17 disposals of which 15 were contested.
The full list of Lions stats leaders after Round One have been provided below:
LIONS STATS LEADERS (AFL Top 10)
Contested Possessions: =10th Ben Hudson (15)
Uncontested Possessions: =4th Jed Adcock (22)
Disposal Efficiency: =1st Matthew Leuenberger (100%)
Marks: =3rd Tom Rockliff (10), Cheynee Stiller (10)
Marks Inside 50: 1st Tom Rockliff (6)
Contested Marks: =1st Tom Rockliff (6)
Goals: =8th James Polkinghorne (3), Tom Rockliff (3), Todd Banfield (3)
Goal Assists: =1st Matthew Leuenberger (3), =8th Simon Black (2)
Tackles: =3rd Simon Black (10)
Time on Ground: =8th Daniel Merrett (99%), =10th Joel Patfull (98%)
One Per Centers: 1st Joel Patfull (13), =2nd Matt Maguire (11), =8th Niall McKeever (9)
