BRISBANE Lions captain Tom Rockliff appears certain to stay with the club next season, with his manager declaring he was 99 per cent sure the skipper would not move.
Rockliff is contracted until the end of 2017 and his manager Tom Petroro, of Stride Sports, has previously hosed down speculation he could join Adelaide or a Victorian club before his deal expires.
While contract talks were put on hold earlier this season after the Lions failed to present a counter offer to Rockliff, the midfielder was preparing to be with the club next season and not speaking with any rivals.
"I'm really confident he will be (at the Lions next season). I'd be 99 per cent (sure he'll stay)," Petroro told SEN on Saturday.
"I spoke to 'Swanny' (Lions CEO Greg Swann) on Tuesday night and talked through a number of things.
"Tom is preparing to be at the Brisbane Lions, he's working through his program he's been given by them (and) we're not going to talk to any other clubs."
Who's on the move? Nick Bowen tracks 2016's free agents
After a contract proposal Rockliff had put to the Lions earlier this year was pulled, Petroro said a deal had failed to be struck because the Lions were not negotiating.
"'Leppa' (former coach Justin Leppitsch) was calling me saying, 'Tom, you've got to get this done. This is really important for my footy club'," Petroro said.
"And I was saying, 'I do want to get it done, but I'm having some troubles getting it done … it's not our lack of intent to get it done'.
"The biggest issue was we never received a counter offer, so I negotiated with myself."
Petroro also manages Caleb Marchbank, who this week requested a trade out of Greater Western Sydney after two seasons.
The Victorian wants to join a club in his home state and was open with the Giants about potentially wanting to move home at the end of this season.
"Caleb informed GWS on Thursday that he was wishing to return home and we'll now run a process where we talk to three or four clubs," Petroro said.
"I've fielded some calls over the last couple of days. Once Caleb gets back to Melbourne, which we're working through a timeline on that, then we'll sit down with three to four clubs and have a conversation on that."
AFL.com.au reported on Friday that Carlton, St Kilda and Essendon had been closely monitoring Marchbank's situation all season.
Petroro also revealed Port Adelaide tall Jackson Trengove is in discussions to sign a contract extension.
"'Jacko' has got a year to run and Jason Cripps (Power list manager) called me early in the week to say over the next two weeks let's sit down to extend him out," Petroro said.
