Tom Rockliff’s future at Brisbane Lions is still unclear

BRISBANE list manager Peter Schwab says the Lions are still undecided about Tom Rockliff’s future with the club.

Tom Rockliff: will he stay or go? Picture: Colleen Petch

BRISBANE list manager Peter Schwab says the Lions are still undecided about Tom Rockliff’s future with the club.

Brisbane’s relationship with its captain hit a new low when Rockliff was forced to apologise for a recent tweet that labelled a woman “at least a three out of 10’’.

The social media brain snap could not have come at a worse time. Brisbane are yet to make a call on trading Rockliff, who has come under fire for his divisive leadership style.

Lions CEO Greg Swann was scathing of Rockliff on Melbourne radio: “It’s just not on from our point of view, especially with everything that’s happening with all the discussions.

“If you’re going to be captain of a football club, you don’t want to be involved in things like this. It just wasn’t very clever.’’

The Lions are unsure about Tom Rockliff. Picture: Colleen Petch

Schwab on Friday said the tweet drama had been dealt with and the club was focused on the bigger picture.

“Tommy Rockliff’s done the wrong thing, we all know that,” Schwab said.

“The tweet he sent out was inappropriate. The club’s not happy with what happened, Tom’s apologised as he should, so we put that matter to one side.

“The other matter becomes a discussion with Tom as to where he’s at in his football.

“Does he really want to stay and commit to the Brisbane Lions or do the Brisbane Lions want to commit to Tom? That’s a discussion that’s ongoing.’’

When asked if the Lions wanted to keep Rockliff at the Gabba, Schwab said, “right at the moment we do’’.

He also added that the club had “not put anything off the table, so it’s open for discussion’’.

Schwab said Irishman Pearce Hanley, who has been strongly linked to the Gold Coast, was probably suffering from “loser’s fatigue’’ as both the club and player have explored the possibility of a trade.

He said the Lions were at the start of a new era under senior coach Chris Fagan and highly-rated footy boss David Noble.

The Lions remain open to trading their No.2 draft pick for a pick and a player but Schwab said approaches from rival clubs were still well short of the mark to get them interested.

Originally published as Tom Rockliff’s future at Brisbane Lions is still unclear