AFL Finals: All the latest MRO news from across the league

Dayne Zorko was slapped with a ninth career striking charge, but the Lion is free to play in the preliminary final.

Brisbane Lions’ star Dayne Zorko has been hit with his ninth career striking charge for an ugly stomach punch in the Lions’ thrilling semi-final comeback win on Saturday night.

Zorko, 35, struck GWS Giants’ playmaker Isaac Cumming with a swinging right arm to the body in the second term and was sanctioned $3750, down to $2500 with an early plea, by the AFL on Sunday.

But the gun half back and 2024 All-Australian can breathe a sigh of relief as the body blow earned him a four-figure fine rather than a suspension ahead of Saturday’s preliminary final against Geelong at the MCG.

Cumming had kicked the ball on the wing and was completely unprotected when Zorko, who has a reputation as an AFL bad boy for his on-field aggression, lashed out with his right arm into his ribs.

Zorko has one of the longest rap sheets in the game and was labelled a “pseudo tough man” by former Port Adelaide midfielder and respected analyst Kane Cornes in 2022 after a nasty sledging stoush with Melbourne’s Harrison Petty.

Zorko faces a nervous wait. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“I’m more concerned about the way Dayne has been carrying himself for a number of years,” Cornes said on Channel 9.

Zorko was fined for a similar incident in 2017 when he felled Carlton’s Lachie Plowman with a punch to his abdomen.

He has also twice been in hot water for making contact with an opponent’s eye region – against Adelaide’s Luke Pedlar last year and former Blue Marc Murphy in 2018.

Zorko is one of the Lions’ most important players who was tagged by GWS tough nut James Peatling before Zorko was swung forward late as Brisbane charged home.

Zorko kicked a crucial goal off the ground in the fourth-term comeback and will play a key role in trying to upset the Cats on Saturday at the MCG.

He was one of the Lions’ best players in the end, gathering 25 touches and two goals as the Lions made it to the final four again after last year’s Grand Final heartbreak.

GWs Giant Toby Bedford is likely to be cleared of any dangerous tackle concerns for his dumping tackle on Lions’ Callum Ah Chee late in the last quarter.

Ah Chee took the bulk of the force of the tackle through his back when Bedford slammed him to the ground.