Brisbane Lions Vice-Captain Tom Rockliff has been rewarded for his impressive form this year by being named in the AFL All Australian team, becoming the first player from the club to have achieved the feat of earning a place in the AFL's Team of the Year. While the Lions endured a relatively underwhelming season, finishing 15th in the AFL ladder, Rockliff once again proved himself to be a fantastic trade for fantasy fans in another hugely productive season for the youngster.



In a season in which he has averaged 134.8 fantasy points throughout his 18 appearances - his third season of averaging over 100 fantasy points - Rockliff became only the 21st Brisbane Lions player to have been selected in the All Australian line-up, joining an illustrious group of former legends including the likes of Kevin Murray, Simon Black, Michael Voss, Garry Wilson and Jonathan Brown. Despite his impressive form this year, Rockliff had to settle for a place on the interchange bench, with with Dyson Heppell (ESS), Josh Kennedy (SYD), Nat Fyfe (FRE), Joel Selwood (GEEL), and Gary Ablett (GC) named among the on-field centreline and roving positions.



After regularly appearing in the All Australian sides of the early 2000s, the Lions have been largely absent over the past decade, and Brown becomes the only player to have earned All-Australian status since 2005. Despite only being 24-years old, Rockliff is now able to add his latest accolade to a growing collection that already includes two Merrett-Murray Medals, a Marcus Ashcroft Medal (2012), a sixth placing in the Brownlow Medal (2013), and a podium finish in the AFL Rising Star Award (2010).



While Brisbane have never been in the mix this season, it won't come as a surprise to anyone who has watched the Lions this season to see the midfielder named in the All Australian after the year he has just had, finishing the season averaging more disposals (32.7 per game), more tackles (9.1), and more AFL Fantasy points (134.8) than any other player in the entire competition this year. Rockliff steadily improved throughout the season, racking up 40 or more possessions on five occasions during the year, with four of those coming in the youngster's final five appearances of the campaign during a real purple patch for the former first round draft pick and giving those betting online with bet365 Australia something to think about heading into next season.
Now in his fourth season as a valuable member of the Club's Leadership Group, it would seem likely that it's just a matter of time before Rockliff makes the step up to lead the team and be named skipper. With a young and exciting group coming through at Brisbane, the Lions management will be hoping Rockliff is the man who can lead the club up the ladder and back into Finals contention. At just 24, the midfielder looks set to be a regular fixture in fantasy fans line-ups for a good few years, and Brisbane supporters will be hoping Rockliff is the man to bring back the good times to Queensland. [span style='color: #2e2e2e;]