Despite tough times at Lions, Brisbane skipper Dayne Zorko won’t be rushed into returning from hamstring injury

Recent hamstring injuries have left Lions captain Dayne Zorko cautious about returning to action before he’s completely fit.

Dayne Zorko is making a steady recovery from his hamstring injury. Picture: Albert Perez / Getty Images

Brisbane skipper Dayne Zorko has ruled out a “reckless” comeback from a hamstring injury despite the plight of the wounded Lions.

With Zorko among nine injured or ill regulars unavailable, premiership-contending Brisbane suffered a shock 10-point loss to lowly Essendon at the Gabba at the weekend.

The Lions have since suffered a further setback, with ruckman Oscar McInerney the latest Brisbane player to have tested positive to Covid-19.

McInerney and defender Noah Answerth – who returned a positive test to the virus the day before Sunday’s loss to the Bombers – are certain to miss the Lions’ clash with the GWS Giants this Saturday at Manuka Oval in Canberra.

Those who tested positive last week – Harris Andrews, Callum Ah Chee, Keidean Coleman and Dan McStay – should be available to play this weekend.

Decisions will also need to be made on Zorko, Daniel Rich (hamstring), Jarrod Berry (hamstring) and Jaxon Prior (quad).

However, regardless of how many players will be unavailable the weekend, Zorko won’t be rushed into returning.

Back to it 💪 pic.twitter.com/histDieVS4

— Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) July 12, 2022

“It’s going to come down to how I get through Thursday’s (training) session, what sort of speeds I can reach, (and) whether I feel confident in (the hamstring) myself,” said Zorko, who added he wouldn’t feel “extra pressure” to return because of the Lions’ injury list and the team’s recent run of inconsistent form.

“That would just be reckless, to be honest. It’s certainly not panic stations.

“We had a really good start to the season, and although we need to keep winning every single week, we’re certainly not going to be risking players at this point of the year with a final series just around the corner.

“That would be extremely reckless. I don’t feel any extra pressure. The boys have won without me before, (and) they’ve won without a number of players before.

“We need to just get back to our basics this week, do the fundamentals right, which we struggled with a little bit on the weekend, which was probably expected, but hopefully with a more settled week this week, I think we’ll be fine.”

Zorko said the Lions, who have lost four of their past seven matches, needed a better defensive display against the Giants.

“We know we can kick a score but we’ve got to stop allowing easy goals,” he said.

“The ability of Essendon – and the Giants have done in the past to us, and so did Hawthorn earlier on in the year – to move the ball from our forward 50 way too easily and score, that was quite disappointing to see on the weekend.

“We need to tighten up that significantly, and that’s not just on the forwards, that’s on the midfielders squeezing down as well, and obviously the defenders squeezing down on top of them.

“It’s a whole team and collective effort, but I think if we can clean that up, we’ll be right.”

Originally published as Despite tough times at Lions, Brisbane skipper Dayne Zorko won’t be rushed into returning from hamstring injury