New Broadbeach Cats QAFL coach Craig O’Brien shocked by Beau Zorko’s exit

New Broadbeach QAFL coach Craig O’Brien says he and playing group were shocked by Beau Zorko’s exit as they attempt to move on quickly ahead of the looming season.

NEW Broadbeach QAFL coach Craig O’Brien says he and playing group were shocked by Beau Zorko’s exit as they attempt to move on quickly ahead of the looming season.

Former coach Zorko said a fractured relationship with O’Brien led to his decision to resign on Tuesday but the latter believed it wasn’t the case and didn’t see his departure coming.

“It was out of left field to be honest,” O’Brien said.

“Beau and I had a pretty good relationship, I don’t know where it came from.

“I had a really good year with him last year, I know he enjoyed my company

“I wanted to really work with Beau this year and implement some things to make his job easier.

Broadbeach QAFL coach Craig O'Brien. Picture: Supplied.

“It was never my intention to come and coach, it was my intention to get the clubs off-field a lot better and give Beau as much guidance as I can.

“I just hope he is OK. I just can’t get my head around it. I’ll be the scapegoat for it but I know it’s not me. The door is always open for him. He was really respected by the whole group.”

O’Brien credited Zorko with getting the club into a strong position after rebuilding the list and playing style in 2019.

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“He has made a lot of massive inroads for the club. From the point of view of rebuilding last year he did a great job and this was supposed to be a reward year for him,” O’Brien said.

“It has thrown a spanner in the works at the moment but I feel like I have to step up. I know the guys and the structures beau has implemented and some stuff I can add to.”

fORMER Broadbeach Cats QAFL coach Beau Zorko. Picture credit: Travis Johnson.

A shocked Cats playing group was told of Zorko’s exit at training on Tuesday and O’Brien said they were now focused on building towards the season.

“The players were as shocked as anyone,” O’Brien said.

“We have to move forward and the position the club is in at the moment is really strong.

“We have good sponsors now, we have good coaches, we have the academy in place, we have a really happy bunch of people around and that is why it came so far out of left field.

“We are a club that is really excited about moving forward. I had a lot of time and respect for him.

“It’s a little hurdle for us. We have had a really good pre-season and a lot of that has to do with Beau, he has got the boys up and about. It came as a shock to a lot of the players as well and once we got through that stage at training last night they thought ‘OK, we have to move on’.”