Tom Rockliff plays his 200th game as Port Adelaide uses the least number of players this season
As Port Adelaide’s Tom Rockliff brings up game number 200, the veteran midfielder said he won’t be slowing down despite the Power using the least amount of players this season. See where your team ranks.
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VETERAN Port Adelaide midfielders Tom Rockliff and Travis Boak insist their side is not leg weary despite the Power using the least number of players in the competition this season.
As of Monday, the Power had used just 30 players on its list but maintained its spot on top of the AFL ladder despite a 10-goal loss to Geelong on Friday night.
Sydney has used the most with 38 players from a host of clubs including Collingwood, Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne and Adelaide with 37.
Fellow premiership contenders Geelong and West Coast have used 32.
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Neither Rockliff, 30, or Boak, 32, said they were keen on putting their hand up for a rest ahead of the Power’s clash with Hawthorn this Saturday and then seven and six-day breaks for the remainder of the regular season leading into finals.
“I don’t think you want to flirt with your form too much and say ‘let’s just rest guys because we’ve used the least amount of guys’,” Rockliff told The Lowdown Podcast.
“Our management and high performance team are really good at that, Stu Graham does the GPS and knows the output so he’ll know if guys are flatlining a bit, and I’m sure the club will look at it and rest guys if needed.
“But I don’t think resting guys for the sake of it is the right thing, if you are a bit flat you’ve got to put your hand up for either a training session or a game off, we know with quick turnarounds there might be guys like that, but not to rest them for the sake of it.”
Rockliff was dropped after Round 5 and returned in Round 9 with strong tackling and high intensity in the midfield.
“I had that period off which helped me a bit, if I had of played throughout that I would have been a bit tired, but after Friday night we have an eight-day break and then seven-day breaks from here on with a bye in there,” he said.
“My body feels pretty good and I think having those couple of weeks off in that middle period probably helped me.”
Boak, who is renowned for his recovery and attention to detail with his body, also said he wasn’t keen on an enforced rest.
“We have a big block of games coming up to hopefully push for finals. We will do the right thing in terms of what’s best for the team but right now if I’m feeling great I want to be out there and helping the side perform as best I can,” he said.
FAMILY FRONT OF MIND FOR MILESTONE MAN ROCKY
TOM Rockliff’s head will be in the contest at Adelaide Oval on Saturday but his heart with his family back in Benalla in country Victoria when he plays his 200th game.
The 30-year-old former Brisbane captain said it would be a surreal feeling reaching a major milestone without his parents, siblings and grandfather able to come across the border and watch, but he hopes to put a smile on their faces with a win over Hawthorn.
Rockliff played 154 games with the Lions before joining the Power in 2018 and while he says he will think of himself as a Brisbane and Port Adelaide person when he retires, he is fully invested in bringing a premiership to Alberton.
“I played over 150 games for Brisbane and spent a fair chunk of my life there, nine years, was lucky enough to captain the football club and we didn’t have as much on-field success as I would have liked but I have fond memories there and I’m sure I’d be welcomed back when my career is over,” Rockliff told The Lowdown Podcast.
“But absolutely at the moment I’m a Port Adelaide player, and once you pull on the jumper particularly for a club like Port Adelaide you’re entrenched in their history and hopefully we can write some more in the 150th year and celebrate it.
“It hasn’t been a normal year for reasons we’re well aware of, but hopefully we can continue to play some really good footy.
“I suppose it (200th game milestone) does sneak up on you a little bit, your career goes so quick and when you first start out they say cherish the moment because it does go fast.
“I’ve been in the system for 12 years now but it does feel like yesterday was draft day.”
Rockliff said his family would be watching on TV at home and he was disappointed they couldn’t come to see the game live because of Covid restrictions.
“They’re doing it a little bit tough at the moment, in country Victoria is a bit easier than Melbourne but they’re still on stage three restrictions and no doubt mum and dad would be disappointed they can’t be here, my brother and sister as well and my grandfather he used to travel a bit and watch me play, he’d do five or six weeks at a time in Queensland.
“It will be a bit surreal not having them there for a milestone game but hopefully we can put on a good show and have a good win and bring a bit of pleasure to their loungerooms as they sit and watch.”
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The Power will be looking to return to form against the Hawks after a 10-goal loss to Geelong on Friday night.
“The most important thing - it doesn’t mater whose milestone it is, you want to perform as a team, I’m fortunate to play my 200th this weekend and hopefully we can have a really good win against Hawthorn.
“We know they’ve been a benchmark for the last 15 years and an Alastair Clarkson coached team is never out of any game so we’re going to have to be at our best to play well.
“Playing at Adelaide Oval, Indigenous Round, a special jumper that means so much to so many people within the football club and outside, it’s a great opportunity for us to rebound and find some form and a challenge we are looking forward to.”
Originally published as Tom Rockliff plays his 200th game as Port Adelaide uses the least number of players this season