Former Brisbane captain Tom Rockliff has revealed that he felt that he was “pushed out” of the role in early 2017.
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“We’ve seen Nathan Fyfe stand down (as Fremantle captain) this week, which, looking from the outside it seems like he was pushed out,” Rocky said on Dead Set Legends with Tom Rockliff, Cal Ferguson and Thomo.
“I went through that process as well, where I was moved on as captain. I wanted to continue.”
Rocky went on to explain how the decision was made that saw the captaincy shift from him to Dayne Beams.
“The year that I actually lost the captaincy at Brisbane, we went through the process, and I was a bit unsure,” he said.
“I knew there were stories travelling around that I wasn’t that well liked, well not well liked, but there was stories that just weren’t factual about me out there, and that took place.
“But we went through the process and we were with Leading Teams at the time… [and] the year that I lost it, I actually won the vote, believe it or not.
“It was only by a couple of votes, it was a handful of votes I think, and Dayne Beams was second, and Dane Zorko was third.”
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Rocky felt that the push to change the captaincy came from higher up.
“We then had a meeting and collaborated what we thought was the best option, everyone went through the process, I seen the writing the wall that they wanted to make a change,” he said.
“I suggested maybe co-captains, but unfortunately for me, Chris Fagan had come in and he wanted to make a change, which is fine at the time.
“He wanted a fresh start, Greg Swann who was the CEO at the time as well, who brought Dayne Beams to the footy club, he wanted him to be captain, so unfortunately for me the writing was on the wall, and I didn’t get the captaincy.”
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Rocky said that the disappointment of losing the captaincy wasn’t the catalyst for his move to Port Adelaide at the end of that season, however.
“I certainly didn’t make a decision to leave there and then on the basis of not being captain,” he said.
Beams took over as captain of the Lions in early 2017 and stepped down from the role at the end of the next season ahead of his controversial trade back to Collingwood.
Dayne Zorko has been Brisbane skipper since.
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