Brisbane captain Tom Rockliff says he’s had enough of excuses for the under-performing AFL team and he’s calling for hard work and greater on-field boldness.

Rockliff made an underwhelming return from a serious rib injury as the Lions were thumped by West Coast at the Gabba on Sunday.

It means the Lions and Gold Coast go into this weekend’s Q-Clash at Metricon Stadium as the only winless teams in the competition.

“I’m sick of sitting down the bottom of the ladder and every year building hopes up and giving this promise to our members and supporters that we’re going to improve and go up the ladder,” Rockliff told reporters on Monday.

“The talking’s done for me.

“We need to improve as a group and it starts with me as captain of the footy club and works its way through the playing group. We need to improve across the board.”

Rockliff said citing inexperience and injuries was worthless and the only thing the Lions could draw on to starting getting results was hard work.

He also urged his team to take more risks and be prepared to make mistakes if it meant the possibility of creating opportunities.

“It’s like we’re scared to make a mistake,” Rockliff said.

“The two weeks I watched was like ‘we’ve got the option but we don’t want to take it’ for some reason.

“We’ve got to get back to playing that free-flowing footy.

“Leppa’s (coach Justin Leppitsch) said throughout he’s not going to tell us off for making a mistake, he’s going to tell us off for doing the wrong structure and not adhering to the game plan.

“Taking on the game is really important for us at the moment.”