TOM ROCKLIFF could make a surprise early return from injury against West Coast on Sunday.

The Brisbane Lions captain spent two nights in hospital after suffering broken ribs and a punctured lung in round one against Collingwood.

The initial diagnosis for recovery was four to six weeks, but the feisty Rockliff has been bugging Lions medical staff and coaches for an early return.

The 25-year-old is back running at full pace and has been trialing some protective padding for the ribs and lung.

It will come down to how much pain he can tolerate, and whether the protective guard would limit his range of movement.

At present he struggles to get his arm above his head, but that is improving.

On Monday, stand-in captain Daniel Rich said he was hopeful of not having to lead the team against the Eagles.

"Hopefully I don't have to and Rocky's playing," Rich said.

"Knowing him, he'll be pretty keen, but I think he'll have to tick a few boxes during the week in terms of the contact and that side of things to make sure he's ready.

"His health and wellbeing is more important than coming back a week early.

"He's done everything he can so far. He's a tough bugger to go through that."

Rockliff's return would not only bring his midfield production, but also some much-needed leadership.

After Saturday night's poor 79-point loss against Richmond, coach Justin Leppitsch bemoaned the lack of leaders on the field.

"Our leadership is down without Pearce (Hanley) and Rocky, who are probably our two strongest leaders so that doesn't help," Leppitsch said.

"People don't realise which are the ones within your team who are the spiritual types – and those two are – so that really leaves a lot to others.

"I thought Dayne (Zorko) was terrific in trying to spark the team, but there's not enough others that want to jump in along the journey and be part of it."

Rich said it was an area for which the entire team needed to take responsibility.

"It's not something you want to hear," he said.

"That shows where we need to improve as a group.

"Every guy on the field has to be a leader in a different way, whether that's bringing enthusiasm as a first-year player or setting guys up using their voice.

"They're the kind of things we need to improve on to make ourselves a better team. The top teams do it, so there's no excuses."