AFL Lions need to protect Rich It may be a few days too late but Tom Rockliff has stood up for fellow Brisbane vice-captain Daniel Rich, saying the Lions failed to protect the young gun from a Western Bulldogs mauling. Not much didn't make Rockliff wince when he reflected on the Lions' deflating 68-point AFL season-opening loss to the Bulldogs on Saturday. However, Bulldogs recruit Nick Lower's man-handling of Rich seemed to leave a particularly bad taste in Rockliff's mouth. Rich came under fire after being restricted to just eight touches but Rockliff laid the blame squarely on his team. "You ask about Richy's performance but that is a reflection of the group," said Rockliff, who grabbed 33 touches to be one of the few Lions to shine at Etihad Stadium. If someone is going to pick on one of our blokes we have to make sure he is in for a long day. I think Geelong have set the standard with that. In the past if someone is being tagged they go out and belt him (tagger). We didn't do that at all. I don't think anyone bumped into Lower on the day. For some reason our mentality was poor. Rich still seemed dazed by the Bulldogs onslaught. It was a bit of a shock. It was a very disappointing game personally," he said. You can't just put it behind you. You have to take as much as you can out of it then say 'enough's enough' and focus on next week. We want to get the team back on track playing how we want to play. The Bulldogs kicked the first six goals, won the disposals 380-304 and dominated marks 116-54. But another stat disturbed Rockliff. We'd prided ourselves on (limiting) uncontested possessions. We had kept teams down to around 50 in the pre-season," he said. So for a team to get 120 uncontested possessions on you ... that is quite concerning. We have to take another look at team defence. There is no let up in sight for the Lions on Saturday night. They host an Adelaide side smarting from a first round upset loss to Essendon and keen to avenge a shock round 21 defeat at the Gabba last year. Brisbane will be sweating on the return of ruckman Matthew Leuenberger (Achilles) after Billy Longer was outclassed by Bulldog Will Minson. "But one player is not going to turn it around for us or make us play better footy," Rockliff said. Whatever the 22 we have must go out and stamp their authority at the Gabba.