Brisbane veteran Dayne Zorko says older players are driving teams to success in AFL

The two teams up the top of the AFL ladder have a long list of older players and one Brisbane star says that’s a key to success.

Star Brisbane Lions veteran Dayne Zorko has no intention of taking games off to get through the hardest part of the season, declaring that at 36 he can “keep soldiering on” as his streak hits 50 games in a row.

Revealing he was hitting “career best” GPS numbers as a running halfback, Zorko also declared the value of having experienced players on the field was evident in the teams making up the top half of the ladder.

Keeping those older players firing has been at the core of recent decisions by other clubs to rest them for specific games, often, but not always, for road trips.

Second-placed Collingwood has put Scott Pendlebury, 37 and Steele Sidebottom, 34, on ice in recent weeks, a duo Zorko singled out as banner holders for the “asset” veteran players can be.

Zorko, who turned 36 earlier this year, has played all 11 games for the Lions so far in 2025 and has no intention of missing Thursday’s clash with Essendon despite it coming just five days since Brisbane took down Hawthorn at the MCG last Saturday.

Dayne Zorko is about to play his 50th game in a row. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images

It will be his 50th consecutive game, his 289th overall, and should he maintain his streak, Zorko will play his 300th game in round 24.

He said the idea of taking a break had been discussed, but his recovery, and his output, suggested it wasn’t necessary.

“We have certainly considered it. Every now and then me and Fages (coach Chris Fagan) have that discussion,” he said.

“Ultimately, it comes back to how I’m feeling … my recovery seems to be great.

“My GPS numbers are as high as they’ve ever been through my whole career at the age of 36. I’m running almost a kilometre and a half more than as a midfielder or forward.

That gives me a lot of confidence.

“I feel as though my body is in a really good position at the moment and I can keep soldiering on.”

Zorko, a five-time best and fairest winner, said you “can’t buy experience” and pointed to the Magpie duo as evidence he need not put a timeline on his playing career.

“You can see the enjoyment I am playing with. As long as my body is good and keeps recovering the way it is and letting me get up and play, I won’t be putting a time limit on it,” he said.

Chris Fagan and Dayne Zorko celebrate last week’s MCG win over Hawthorn. Picture: Josh Chadwick/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

“We’ve seen this year how much of an asset older players can be.

“Everyone wanted to retire Pendles and Sidebottom at the start of the year and now they want to sign them on long contracts because they are going so well.

“We are seeing that in a lot of teams up the top half of the ladder how much of a role the older players are having. You can’t buy experience, and you can only have that if you are out there.”

Brisbane ruckman Oscar McInerney could return on Thursday to exploit Essendon’s significant lack of big men, with veteran Todd Goldstein shouldering the ruck load amid an injury crisis at the Bombers.

“I’m confident he’ll be right,” Zorko said.