Anthony Rocca
Encyclopedia
Anthony Rocca is a former Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who has played with the Sydney Swans
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

 and Collingwood
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

 in the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

. He is currently training to become a punter in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 which would see him follow in his brother Saverio's
Saverio Rocca
Saverio "Sav" Giovanni Rocca is a punter for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League and former Australian rules footballer for both and in the Australian Football League. He has also played for the Philadelphia Eagles.He is one of a few players who have converted from...

 footsteps who is currently a punter with the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...

.

Sydney

Of Italian descent, Rocca is the younger brother of former Australian rules footballer and former teammate Saverio Rocca
Saverio Rocca
Saverio "Sav" Giovanni Rocca is a punter for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League and former Australian rules footballer for both and in the Australian Football League. He has also played for the Philadelphia Eagles.He is one of a few players who have converted from...

 (who now plays for the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...

 in the NFL). Known as a family man, Anthony was rated highly as a youngster and was selected with the second overall pick in the 1994 AFL Draft
1994 AFL Draft
The 1994 AFL Draft consisted of a pre-season draft, a national draft, a trade period and a rookie elevation. The AFL Draft is the annual draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League.In 1994 there...

 by the Sydney Swans
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

. A lifelong Collingwood supporter (hailing from the Reservoir
Reservoir, Victoria
Reservoir is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Darebin. At the 2006 Census, Reservoir had a population of 45,970....

 area, an area in the Collingwood supporter base's heartland), Rocca has said in recent interviews that at the time he was at Sydney his heart was not completely in it and he was homesick.

Collingwood

After two seasons at the Swans, Rocca was traded to his preferred home, Collingwood. He made a name for himself as a strong forward
Forward line
In Australian rules football, the forward line refers to a set of attacking positions on the field.The forward line consists of three players, a left and right forward pocket, and a full-forward. Up until approximately 20 years ago, the forward pockets were often the resting rover or ruckman...

, with a booming 70+ metre kick just like his brother but unlike his brother, Anthony was used also in the ruck. His importance to the Magpies forward structure was crucial, and he led the team's goalkicking, albeit with 38 goals in the year his team made a Grand Final
AFL Grand Final
The AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia to determine the Australian Football League premiership champions for that year...

 in 2002. In 2003, with the Magpies again facing Brisbane in the Grand Final, Rocca was suspended in the Preliminary Final against Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide Football Club
The Port Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, which plays in the Australian Football League and the South Australian National Football League...

, shattering his dream of playing in another Grand Final. Without Rocca, the Magpies forward line structure was completely changed from the one that had been so successful throughout 2003, and by coincidence or not, Collingwood lost the match by a whopping 50 points.

In 2004 he missed 7 matches with injuries, and fared even worse in 2005, snapping an achilles tendon
Achilles tendon
The Achilles tendon , also known as the calcaneal tendon or the tendo calcaneus, is a tendon of the posterior leg. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the calcaneus bone.- Anatomy :The Achilles is the tendonous extension of 3 muscles in the lower leg:...

 during the Round 4 clash against the Kangaroos, ruling him out for the rest of the season.

During the 2006 season
2006 AFL season
Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 2006.-National Cup: 3.10.5 defeated 1.10.15 in the 2006 NAB Cup Final...

 Rocca returned to the side and proved important to the Magpies' structure up forward. In the Round 2 match against Hawthorn he booted 8 goals against unheralded young defender Zac Dawson
Zac Dawson
Zac Dawson is an Australian rules footballer who has played for the Hawthorn and St Kilda Football Clubs in the Australian Football League .-AFL career:- Hawthorn :...

. The decision by Hawks coach Alistair Clarkson to play Dawson on the much stronger and athletic Rocca was heavily criticised in the media. Rocca spoke out on this and was quoted as saying "he has to learn". He kicked a career best season return of 55 goals and was the clubs leading goalkicker for the third time. His first half of the season was fantastic, while he struggled in the second half. He made the news in the Round 16 clash against the West Coast Eagles
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...

 where he had shown the ball to umpire Hayden Kennedy, while walking off his mark, after Rocca turned-over a free kick, after a mistake by Kennedy minutes before. In round 22, Anthony played against his brother, Saverio
Saverio Rocca
Saverio "Sav" Giovanni Rocca is a punter for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League and former Australian rules footballer for both and in the Australian Football League. He has also played for the Philadelphia Eagles.He is one of a few players who have converted from...

, for Sav's farewell game before heading to the United States to become a gridiron
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 punter.

Rocca's 2008 season was highlighted by mixed form and inconsistency.

He spent much of the first half of 2009 in the reserves, having been dropped from the senior side due to poor form and injury. With the continued rise of Travis Cloke
Travis Cloke
Travis Cloke is a professional Australian rules footballer playing in the Australian Football League. Cloke was drafted under the father-son rule by Collingwood in the 3rd round of the 2004 AFL Draft...

 and John Anthony
John Anthony
John "Jack" Anthony is a professional Australian rules football player who plays for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League . Anthony used to play for the Collingwood Football Club, but left the club at the end of the 2010 season.- Early life :Anthony originally played as a...

, there was media speculation as to whether Rocca was needed in the senior side and some speculated that at his age he may never return. However Rocca answered his critics with some impressive form in the reserves earning a return in round 4 against the Brisbane Lions, in which he had a solid match up forward.

Retirement

Anthony Rocca announced his retirement on 21 September 2009. Rocca finished his AFL career with 242 games and 415 goals.

It has since been reported that Rocca may try to follow his brother's footsteps into the NFL.

In early January 2011, Rocca took up the job of assistant coach of the Magpies' VFL team alongside its new coach Tarkyn Lockyer.

Personal life

Rocca is married to Enza Colosimo and has a daughter, Mia, as well as a son, Max.

External links

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