Adelaide primed to resign Josh Jenkins and lure Tom Rockliff from Brisbane Lions

ADELAIDE is primed to add Brisbane captain Tom Rockliff to its squad in the next 18 months, and is on the verge of re-signing forward Josh Jenkins.

Tom Rockliff after his 100th match for Brisbane. Picture: George Salpigtidis

ADELAIDE is primed to add Brisbane captain Tom Rockliff to its squad in the next 18 months as a double-hit on the Lions.

The Crows in the next month will certainly defy Brisbane’s super bid on key forward Josh Jenkins — and then most probably beat a large field of AFL rivals courting All-Australian Rockliff as he prepares for free agency at the end of next season.

And the Crows are certainly expected to ask Brisbane during October’s trade talks if Rockliff is available before he gets to make his own call as a free agent in 2017.

Rockliff, 26, has parked all negotiations with the Lions where he is on contract to the end of next season and becomes a free agent. Free agency moves are usually done 18-24 months in advance, as Adelaide highlighted with its Eddie Betts coup at Carlton.

And as Jenkins waits for the final clauses on his new five-year deal at West Lakes, the Crows are already being touted across the AFL as the winners in the race for Rockliff’s signature.

And that impending deal may explain why Crows midfielder Brad Crouch remains without a new contract — and is repeatedly referred to as a trade option in October’s AFL player market.

Rockliff’s manager Tom Petroro has told The Advertiser speculation that the Lions captain toured Adelaide’s facilities at West Lakes during the Lions’ bye in the past fortnight “could not be further from the truth”.

But Petroro has confirmed Adelaide fitness coach Brett Burton, who managed Rockliff’s training program in the same role at Brisbane last year, did have a chance meeting with Rockliff eight weeks ago.

“They had a coffee, as mates from their time at Brisbane, while staying at the same hotel,” Petroro told The Advertiser. “But there is no way Tom has met anyone from the Crows (about a potential move to Adelaide) nor toured the facility there.”

Rockliff, the Lions’ 2011 club champion, late last month withdrew from contract negotiations at Brisbane. At the time, Rockliff declared he was preferring to concentrate on his current form at Brisbane rather than his future in the AFL.

Brisbane chief executive Greg Swann says that stand-off has continued since — as has the speculation on an Adelaide play on Rockliff.

One of the AFL clubs seeking to lure Rockliff has told The Advertiser it has closed its free-agent play and trade plans on the Victorian believing the chase is already won by the Crows.

Adelaide tonight stood by its repetitive script of “not commenting on players from other AFL clubs” — in particular contracted players.

The Crows also denied Rockliff making any tour of the club’s West Lakes base during the bye series.

Rockliff joined Brisbane as a first-round pick in the 2009 pre-season AFL draft and — after just one league game in 2009 — has been a regular player chalking up 127 games in the past seven seasons.

Rockliff has been the Lions captain since last season. He also is a prolific ballwinner averaging 26 disposals and clearance numbers that make him comparable to veteran Crows midfielder Scott Thompson who plays his 300th AFL game on Saturday.

Adelaide would now believe Rockliff is a sounder prospect to take up Thompson’s roles in the midfield by 2018 than Crouch, who stands as a potential trade lure to Essendon in October if the Crows persist in the chase for Bombers defender Michael Hurley.

Brisbane’s impending pain in losing Rockliff to Adelaide follows the failed bid to sign Jenkins on a five-year, $4 million deal. The 27-year-old forward-ruckman — who leads Adelaide’s goalkicking list (43 goals in 15 games) — will compromise for a five-year deal worth at least $3 million and bonuses to remain a Crow.

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Originally published as Adelaide primed to resign Josh Jenkins and lure Tom Rockliff from Brisbane Lions