Brisbane Lions focused on Suns, not top spot, says veteran Dayne Zorko

The Brisbane Lions are in contention to top the AFL ladder but their focus is solely on beating the Gold Coast Suns in Saturday’s QClash.

Brisbane veteran Dayne Zorko has promised the Lions won’t again fall into the trap of becoming preoccupied with how high they can finish on the AFL ladder despite being in contention to win the minor premiership.

With five rounds of the regular season remaining, the second-placed Lions, on the back of four successive wins, are just two points adrift of competition leaders Collingwood, who have suffered back-to-back defeats.

If the Lions beat Gold Coast at People First Stadium on Saturday, and the Magpies lose to struggling Richmond on Sunday, Brisbane would be on top by the end of the weekend.

If both Brisbane and Collingwood win this weekend, top spot will be on the line on Saturday week when the teams meet at the MCG.

However, should the Lions lose to the Suns, Adelaide will move ahead of them with a win over Port Adelaide on Saturday night.

Dayne Zorko is focused on helping the Lions to a fifth straight win on Saturday. Picture: Albert Perez/AFL Photos via Getty Images

It’s that scenario that Brisbane – who despite winning four premierships since the merger of the Bears and Fitzroy before the 1997 season have not won a minor premiership in that period – is most focused on avoiding, rather than being concerned about top spot.

“We found ourselves in a little bit of trouble earlier in the year when we started doing that,” Zorko told SENQ Breakfast.

“We looked where we were on the ladder and there was a fair bit of separation with us and Collingwood compared to the rest, and we felt as though our form started to fluctuate a little bit.”

The Lions won just two of six matches in a sub-par May-June period, which resulted in them dropping out of the top two.

“We put all that stuff aside. We just purely focus on what’s important from week to week now,” said Zorko ahead of Brisbane’s bid for a fifth straight win on Saturday.

“We want to try to finish up as high as we possibly can, but more importantly we want our game to still be in really good check.

“We want to keep improving and adjusting our style to make sure, heading towards that finals period, our game’s in the best possible shape we can get it.”

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— Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) July 22, 2025

Zorko, who has been cleared to play on Saturday after a positive outcome from scan results on a sore foot, expected the Suns to “respond significantly” to their 61-point weekend loss to Adelaide.

“Their game’s still healthy, they’re in really good check,” Zorko said of the eighth-placed Suns.

“You have those losses. Collingwood beat us by a monstrous number (52 points) earlier on in the season, and you come back, you respond and you clean things up.

“I’m expecting them to do the same thing, which we’ll be ready for.”

Originally published as Brisbane Lions focused on Suns, not top spot, says veteran Dayne Zorko