AFL: Brisbane skipper Dayne Zorko steadily increasing game time ahead of new season

Big off-season signings are set to take the Brisbane Lions to the next level and skipper Dayne Zorko believes he’s got the better of a nagging problem and is ready for the ride.

Brisbane Lions captain Dayne Zorko is ready for the new season. Picture: Tara Croser

Lions captain Dayne Zorko concedes he will have to manage an achilles tendon problem for the rest of his career, but is confident it won’t restrict him this season.

Zorko is set to play at least three quarters of Brisbane’s trial against the Gold Coast Suns on Saturday.

The Lions are set to field a strong team, including prized off-season recruit Joe Daniher, as they step up preparations for their season-opening clash with the Sydney Swans at the Gabba on March 20.

Zorko, whose game time will increase from the half a match he played in a recent internal trial, admitted coping with his niggling Achilles injury had been “physically and mentally” draining.

“It’s there when you wake up in the morning and it’s there when you go to sleep,” he said.

“The fact that I’ve been able to, over the past month, get some really good workload into it, it’s settled down really nicely, it’s going really well and hopefully I can have a season injury free.

“It’s just a management thing. The more load you can get through it the better, but understanding that you can’t go over the top, otherwise it just responds a lot worse than if you load it properly.”

Plenty to like from our recent match sim. It was the 'Joe and Eric Show' down forward, while Ely Smith continued his impressive pre-season form. Check out the full highlights below for more 🔥https://t.co/dF1N3BYvTY

— Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) February 23, 2021

Zorko has been impressed with the pre-season work of star forward Daniher, who moved to Brisbane in the off-season from Essendon.

“He’s going really well. It’s going to be interesting to see how him, Eric (Hipwood), `Macca’ (Daniel McStay), potentially Oscar (McInerney) all work in that forward line together,” the Lions skipper said.

“It’s a challenge they’re extremely excited about. Hopefully he (Daniher) can release a little bit of pressure off those players, especially Eric and Macca, who have for a number of years shouldered that forward load. Getting the key defender every week for young, emerging players is difficult.”

The addition of Daniher and Nakia Cockatoo to the Lions squad has added further premiership expectations on Brisbane, who last season fell one game short of a grand final appearance.

“We can only focus on what we can do from here on really. We’ve just got to keep building our game plan,” Zorko said.

“There’s going to be mistakes made along the way, and there’s going to be games that we don’t win and games we should have won, and there’s going to be games that we do win where we probably shouldn’t have.

“There’s a lot of things that go into a season but it’s really important for us ... to keep trusting the process.

“We certainly feel we’ve got the list to challenge at that pointy end of the season, and that’s what we’re building towards now.”

Originally published as AFL: Brisbane skipper Dayne Zorko steadily increasing game time ahead of new season