Just 12 hours after the devastating news fellow deputy Daniel Rich would miss eight weeks with a fractured shoulder blade, Rockliff called on his teammates to rally and start producing on the field.
The Lions are 1-3 and staring down the barrel of watching their season slip away ahead of Sunday's home match against Melbourne.
Along with Rich they are missing Claye Beams (ACL – season), Jared Polec (ankle – six weeks) and Pearce Hanley (suspended).
Simon Black and Brent Staker are playing their second matches for the Lions reserves in Mackay on Anzac Day as they come back from knee injuries.
Rockliff said the Lions had to move on and start producing results that would take the heat off out-of-contract coach Michael Voss.
"The core of this group has really got to stand up now," he said.
"Enough's been said now. You can talk the talk but we haven't walked the walk.
"It comes down to the senior group and the core 10, 12 blokes out there on the weekend, it's for us to lead the way and those younger blokes to follow, not us follow them."
In last week's 63-point drubbing by North Melbourne, the Lions were well served by debutants Marco Paparone and Sam Docherty, along with second-gamer Sam Mayes, putting some of their senior teammates to shame.
Rockliff described Rich's loss as a massive blow, but said the Lions had no choice other than to quickly move on and start producing displays that did justice to Voss's coaching.
"You feel for him a little bit; it's not so much his doing.
"We're the ones that go out there and perform on the big stage. Unfortunately at the moment we're not standing up to that.
"I think you definitely feel the pressure, you'd be lying if you said you didn't, but … there's always pressure in AFL footy and if you can't get past that, you're not going to survive in the business.
He said Melbourne would be full of running after steamrolling Greater Western Sydney in the final quarter last week.
"We've got to bring our game and play the way we want to play and get our roles down first and foremost and win the contested footy and crack in and set the tone early on our home deck."
Michael Whiting covers Brisbane Lions news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting
