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Deck of Dream Team

Tom Rockliff – Deck of Dream Team 2013

The ultimate early Christmas present arrived with the news “my boy” Rocky was given dual position eligibility! making him a must have in your 2013 AFL Dream Team.

Name: Tom Rockliff
Club: Brisbane
Position: Midfielder/Forward
Assistant Coach 2013 Price: $481,700
Bye Round: 11
2012 Average: 93
2012 Games Played: 22
Predicted Average: 110

Why should I pick him?

If you are not already sold on Rocky for your 2013 Dream Team, you will be by the end of this section. I am about to talk the big fella up and I can hear my critics from here saying things like “it’s because Roy loves him” “dude has a man crush” and “Roy is a cock head, and don’t listen to him”. All quotes have merit; however, Rocky is the real deal and should arguably be your first picked in 13.

In 2011, Rocky smashed his previous average of 87 out of the water to a premium 112 which sat him with the games truly elite. During that season he came home like a steam train averaging over 120 in the last 10 games. In 2012 he started in a blaze of glory with a whopping 130 from 3 goals 5 and 10 marks. Little did we know that his brilliance here would bite him and his owners on the backside in the long run (I will talk about this in the ‘shouldn’t pick him’ section) as he went on to average 93. The reason I mentioned his low (by his standards) average of 93 in the ‘pick him section’ is because it places him at a bargain price for what he can do. Throughout the year, Rocky showed that when he plays predominantly through the midfield, he scores with the best of them, recording 110, 119, 125, 128, 141 and 143 in his better outings.

Looking forward, in an interview with @brisbanelions Rocky was asked about his role as a fwd in 2012 and he basically labelled it “different” and “due to circumstance” as the main reasons he was playing out of the goal square. He went on to say he sees his 2013 role as a midfielder who can rest forward, as opposed to what we saw throughout large patches on 2012.

From the horses mouth: I contacted Rockliff prior to writing this article to ask why we should pick him and he said he said he is in the best shape he has ever been in (must not have spent this off season walking around Bali with a Bintang longneck in hand: see 2012 pre season). In my opinion, this will send Vossy a clear midfield message.

So at this stage, he ticks all boxes for me. He is fit, good looking, durable, looks set to return to the midfield, he should get more outside ball with the addition of Moloney and the big Berger will also return to spoon feed him a few +3s. I also like the idea of him resting fwd due to his ability to be such a scoring threat and boost his scores with the odd +12 bonus. He kicked 18 for the year with multiples on 6 occasions.

Why shouldn’t I pick him?

The main reason not to pick Rocky is that he is too good. As stupid as it sounds, the Lions fwd line looks better when he is in it and when they need an avenue to goal, he tends to be the call up. The worry here is the last 6 rounds, while playing as a fwd he produced scores of 73, 82, 66, 81, 69 and 43
.. enough to raise concern. There is also the issue of potentially having too many Lions in the fwd line with Dayne Zorko putting his hand up for a spot after one of the all time great rookie seasons.

Deck of DT Rating.

King – If Rocky was named purely as a midfielder, there would be an element of risk, but as he holds DPP, the positives far out way the potential (permanent fwd) negatives. There are few fwds out there you can select who have the ability to average 112 for a season so in my opinion, it is a no brainer selection.

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER: @RoyDT for all things DT (and more). Got something to say about the deck? Use the hashtag… #DeckofDT.

The most successful DTer out of the boys prides himself on his multiple top 200 finishes... nearly as much as he prides himself on his guns! The coach of destROY wants you to follow him on Twitter: @RoyDT.




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