AFL preliminary final news: Lions youngster Darcy Wilmot playing for late father, Dayne Zorko on sledge fallout
Darcy Wilmot’s father passed away in 2016 but the Lions youngster Darcy Wilmot will carry a special memento into the prelim final as he continues his AFL fairytale ride.
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Brisbane Lions young gun Darcy Wilmot carries two special reminders of his late father, Grant, to honour him on and off the football field.
One is a pair of his sandals, which he sometimes wears on game day.
The other is the No.44 guernsey he sports as a tribute to the jumper his father donned in his one season at Collingwood in 1980.
A five-game player with the Magpies in their grand final season that year, Grant Wilmot, who passed away in 2016, was a driving force behind the young Lions’ junior football career.
Now, as Wilmot’s fairytale finals series continues, his father’s memory is driving him as the Lions chase a grand final berth in Friday’s preliminary final against Geelong.
“It’s nice to have a part of him still down here with us and with me, especially,” Wilmot said.
“He would have loved seeing me playing at this level, and to have something (the No.44) to remember him every time I go out is really special.
“I also wear a pair of his sandals; I wear them during the week and sometimes on game day.
“He helped me a lot when I was younger, then when he passed away it was more about me just keeping at it because he would have loved me just doing what I want and (to) have fun.
“So, I keep him in my mind. He is there with me.
“You don’t really think about it in the game, it more motivates me in the lead-up (to) the game and in the build-up.”
If his dad’s simple wish was for his son to have fun on the field, Wilmot has certainly made good on that in his fledgling AFL career.
After waiting all season to break into the Lions senior side, it has been a fairytale ride for the 18-year-old defender this finals series.
Brisbane’s first-round selection in last year’s national draft at No.16 overall, Wilmot earned a surprise call-up to make his AFL debut for the Lions’ elimination final against Richmond.
If making your debut in a cutthroat final wasn’t enough, it turned out to be an epic one – a thrilling two-point win in front of a home Gabba crowd.
Wilmot had been given an indication from Lions coach Chris Fagan he could be in the frame to play in the sudden-death final during the bye week.
While the carrot was huge, it only added to the tension for the teenager.
“‘Fages’ told me the week before, which was the bye week, that he wanted me to play 18 v 18 (match simulation at training) and be in the senior team – he said ‘(It) doesn’t mean you are playing, but it could, I will let you know in the next 24 hours’,” Wilmot said.
“It was a little nerve-racking the next 24 hours waiting for the call, so I just kept my mind off it going about my days as normal.
“He rang me that night and told me I’d be playing against the Tigers and I was a bit stunned thinking how crazy it was.
“The build-up to (the game) was more nerve-racking, but I was more excited I’d be out playing footy at the highest level and living out my dream. I just loved it.”
And didn’t he.
Becoming only the third player to debut in a final since 1987, Wilmot produced one of the most memorable moments of the elimination final when he capitalised on a 50m penalty to score his first career goal in the second quarter.
If the final was epic, so, too, were Wilmot’s celebrations.
The Lions’ youngster energetically fist pumped the crowd and jumped about while he was mobbed by his teammates.
“I remember kicking it and just thinking ‘Wow’,” Wilmot said.
“I just wanted to be loud and celebrate with the boys as loud and energetically as I could.
“The photos probably show that pretty well.
“I’ve kicked three goals since being at the Lions, one in the AFL and two in the VFL.
“I don’t normally celebrate too much, but the crowd that night and the boys getting around me there was a lot more atmosphere and energy, which just took over.”
Wilmot’s elimination final selection was followed by a semi-final appearance in the Lions’ MCG hoodoo-breaking win over premier Melbourne.
Clearly not overawed by a big occasion, Wilmot revealed the secrets behind his big-game routine.
“I have a heap of situations – one of the main ones is that everything I do I have to do evenly or twice,” Wilmot said.
“So, if I touch the boxing gloves, which we touch as we run out, I have to do it with two hands.
“If I have a drink during the game, I have two sips then spray myself with the water bottle twice.
“I do a lot of mindfulness stuff before the game to get myself in the right mindset of having fun and enjoying myself when I am out there playing.”
Wilmot lives with teammates Jimmy Tunstill, Deividas Uosis and Kalin Lane and adjusted to being away from his Melbourne-based family and friends.
“At first you get a bit of homesickness, then when you develop relationships with teammates and staff it gets easier as you are doing more with them away from footy,” Wilmot said.
“I am absolutely loving it now.
“‘Frog’ (Ryan Lester) is my mentor and takes me under his wing to teach me stuff. I try and take him under my wing also to teach him stuff I can, even though he is the senior player.”
Two games and two finals down, the next assignment against flag favourite Geelong now awaits.
“I am pretty excited,” Wilmot said.
“(I’m) looking forward to the challenge to take the next step for the club to make it to the grand final. If I can be a part of that it would be amazing.
“Geelong has been the benchmark side most of the season and are minor premiers, so we know it will be a tough match.
“The last few weeks our confidence has grown and grown so we know we can match it with anyone anywhere.”
Zorko hits back at critics in sledge saga
– Matt Turner
Dayne Zorko is two wins away from becoming a premiership captain.
Just four weeks ago, some critics thought the 229-gamer was not the right player to lead Brisbane.
But Zorko has since helped the Lions reach their second preliminary final in three seasons, spearheading them to knockout wins over Richmond and Melbourne during the past fortnight.
The 33-year-old’s performances in those games have caught the eye of a four-time flag-winning skipper who happens to be a former teammate.
“What he’s improved and impressed me so much in the space of two weeks is he did not fuss one little bit about Melbourne,” ex-Hawthorn and Lions star Luke Hodge told SEN.
“What I’ve probably been critical of is his emotions get the better of him and that’s how Brisbane play.
“He was calm last week, he was composed, he didn’t want to fight.
“He just did what he had to do as captain and stayed mentally in the game, and his team followed him.
“I felt that the leadership from Zorko really stood out last week and that was why they were able to overcome a team that had beaten them so convincingly in previous times.”
Zorko had been at the forefront of the Lions’ previous clash with Melbourne – a 58-point loss at the Gabba in round 23.
He was involved in plenty of verbal and physical by-play, before comments he made to Harry Petty left the Demons defender in tears.
Although Zorko apologised post-game and there were reports he copped ugly barbs from Melbourne players, he came under fire.
Not that the midfielder paid much attention to what was being said externally.
“You can’t get too excited when people are pumping you up and you can’t certainly get too emotional when they’re having a dig or saying something ill of you,” Zorko he told News Corp.
“The people’s opinions that matter are your family … and the people inside the four walls at our football club – and that’s all I’ve ever paid attention to.
“If you don’t know the whole story … it’d be rude to judge.”
Zorko would not go into what he said to Petty or to him that night.
“I’ve dealt with the matter, both clubs have dealt with the matter, there’s nothing else to comment on it, it’s done now,” he said.
Zorko said he had hardly thought about the fallout leading up to last Friday night’s game.
“It was everyone else that’s kept talking about it,” he said.
“We didn’t speak about it during the week, we didn’t speak about it after the game, it was just two teams playing.
“Both teams understood what was at stake and there were bigger and better things to get done than worry about arguing with each other.”
Fierce defensive pressure and focusing on themselves were crucial to toppling the Demons.
“In the past few times we’ve played them … we over-analysed the way they played and tried to come up with these magical games plans to beat them,” Zorko said.
“What we did on Friday night was just play normally.”
After straight-sets finals exits in two of the past three seasons, Zorko said Brisbane had learnt not to panic, took its opportunities and were intent on being more selfless.
“Don’t try to do anything extraordinary, just do the basics well,” he said of their mindset.
Brisbane’s triumph was its first at the MCG since 2014 and snapped a four-game losing streak against Melbourne.
Zorko said the club’s so-called hoodoo at the ground was not discussed pre-match.
Being without star forward Joe Daniher, who flew home for the birth of his daughter, also was not a talking point.
“That’s another thing we’ve learnt in the past few years – you can’t harp on adversity, you’ve just got to get through it and find a different way,” the skipper said.
Daniher and ruckman Oscar McInerney will return on Friday night for a rematch of the 2020 preliminary final – a 40-point Geelong win at the Gabba.
The Cats have reached this stage in 12 of the past 16 attempts.
Brisbane has only two players who have won preliminary finals – Charlie Cameron (at Adelaide in 2017) and Neale (Fremantle, 2013).
Despite it not being at home and the gulf in major-round experience, Zorko said the Lions were much better placed than two years ago to make a flag decider.
Reaching a grand final would be special for a club that claimed the wooden spoon in 2018 and was fourth-bottom just three years ago.
“We’ve been able to achieve great things since Fages took over (in 2016) … but our journey isn’t where we want to be yet,” Zorko said.
“We’ve had some disappointment in finals but we’ve got an opportunity this weekend to fix that up and that’s exciting for us.”
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