‘Suspend him’: AFL torched over response to ‘recidivist’ Dayne Zorko’s sledge

Pressure is mounting on the AFL to suspend Dayne Zorko as the footy world reacted in disbelief to the soft response to his on-field sledge.

The AFL has been slammed for its response to the Dayne Zorko sledge.

The AFL has been urged to punish Dayne Zorko as the Brisbane captain continues to be slammed for his on-field sledge of Melbourne’s Harrison Petty.

Viewers were left stunned on Friday night when the Demons’ win over Brisbane was marred by the distressing scenes of Petty in tears at three-quarter time.

Post-match it was revealed Zorko had delivered a personal sledge directed at a member of Petty’s family.

The AFL investigated the incident, while the Lions and Zorko issued apologies and the Demons appeared eager to put the incident behind the club and Petty.

Watch every blockbuster AFL match this weekend Live & Ad-Break Free In-Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

The Herald Sun’s Mark Robinson revealed the sledge which drew such a strong reaction.

“The sledge by Dayne Zorko to Harrison Petty was something like this: I hope your mother dies,” Robinson wrote.

Despite the fallout and calls for Zorko to be stripped of the captaincy, he has not been charged by the AFL, escaped sanction from the Lions and at this stage is free to play Brisbane’s elimination final against Richmond next Thursday.

But calls are only growing louder for Zorko to be penalised or suspended, with several former players and commentators gobsmacked the AFL hasn’t stepped in already.

Hawthorn premiership player Xavier Ellis said Zorko can count himself lucky he didn’t insult a more fiery player who may have retaliated physically.

“He’s lucky he said it to Harrison Petty and not Campbell Brown or Luke Hodge or Sam Mitchell, because they would have absolutely boxed his brains in,” Ellis said on Triple M, referring to his former Hawks teammates.

Harrison Petty seen upset after he was sledged by Lions Dayne Zorko. Pic: Channel 7

“I just think he’s lucky it wasn’t someone with a hothead.

“The look of it — a guy teary on the field — you feel so sorry for Petty.

“There’s two rules with sledging — you have to be a naturally funny person to start with and you have to be intelligent. If you don’t tick both boxes, don’t try. And he (Zorko) obviously clearly doesn’t.”

Brisbane and Melbourne have sought to move on from the incident, but pundits believe the AFL has no choice but to ban Zorko.

“You can’t just have a shake-hands agreement between two clubs,” Ellis said.

“For example, what happens if a physical incident happens, and say Tom Hawkins, a schoolmate, punched me in the face. Can I just go, ‘Shake hands and call it quits because you’re a mate of mine?’.

“It sets a dangerous precedent that you can say anything and if you agree, then you just shake hands and move on.”

Footy commentator Basil Zempilas agreed: “The AFL have to suspend him for that don’t they?”

“I’d be staggered if the AFL don’t open a further investigation. I reckon something will happen today.”

Dayne Zorko is yet to be punished for his sledge. (Photo by Albert Perez/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Zempilas slammed Zorko for setting a poor example to his teammates and urged the AFL to make a stand against on-field insults.

“I think the bigger issue in this is Dayne Zorko’s the captain of Brisbane,” he continued.

“So the youngest couple of players on the Brisbane list, they’re running around out there and they hear that and they think, ‘Oh, well that’s OK when we’re out in the middle’.

“We’ve tried for decades to stamp out stuff that got said on the field and now, is this where we’ve ended up at? Sledging blokes whose mum is terminally ill?”

Co-host Lachy Reid added: “How has he not been penalised for this?

“There’s going to be outrage about that. If a fan over the fence said that to a player, he or she would never attend any AFL game ever again.”

If a fan had written or said what Dayne Zorko did they’d be banned and clubs/league/AFLPA would put out statements.

— Daniel Cherny (@DanielCherny) August 21, 2022

Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd told afl.com.au Zorko can consider himself “very, very fortunate that he’s playing in this first final”.

“We respect Harrison Petty and his wishes but if someone had wanted to take this further, I think Zorko maybe would not be playing this first final” Lloyd said.

AFL journalist Damian Barrett described Zorko’s sledge as “disgusting and disgraceful words” and explained: “Melbourne and Petty don’t want this matter to go further.”

“It wouldn’t have taken a stretch for the AFL to come down harder than they have, allowing these two clubs to mop this up.”

Brisbane and Melbourne are keen to move on from the incident. Photo: Channel 7

Players Association urged to sanction ‘recidivist’ Zorko

North Melbourne great David King said Zorko is a repeat offender he was surprised the AFL Players’ Association hadn’t sanctioned him.

“You’ve got to shift away from that, that’s unacceptable. He’s a recidivist and the players know it,” King told SEN.

“I was probably disappointed Brisbane didn’t make their own statement on this.

“And then, as a secondary action to that, I don’t know why the players don’t have their own code?

“I love Patrick Dangerfield, but if he’s the president of the AFLPA, they should be calling out one of their own and holding him to account for treating one of their own in this fashion.

“Harrison Petty should be looked after as much as anyone.”

“One (player) has broken the code, one is treating their own disrespectfully, that’s not what we want.

“I think going forward they should look at some (punishment) – they don’t have to suspend their own – but there has to be some sort of sanction for players who disrespect the playing group like this.

“It’s always left to the AFL, and this was awkward for the AFL, it got too hot for the AFL.”