Former Brisbane captain Dayne Zorko approaches career milestone

He’s no longer Brisbane’s captain, but Dayne Zorko’s input has still been vital to a Lions side edging closer to AFL premiership glory.

Dayne Zorko celebrates a goal during the Lions’ journey to this weekend’s preliminary final at the Gabba. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Dayne Zorko’s leadership qualities remain crucial to the Lions’ hopes of ending their 20-year AFL premiership drought despite the veteran no longer being Brisbane’s captain.

The in-form Zorko, who turns 35 in February, wants to play on next year and has built a strong case to be offered a contract for 2024 since returning from injury in July.

Another quality performance from the Brisbane veteran in Saturday’s preliminary final against Carlton at the Gabba will go a long way towards securing the Lions a grand final berth the following weekend at the MCG.

Playing in the decider would be extra special for Zorko, as it would be the 250th appearance of an AFL career that started in May 2012.

“I don’t want to look too far ahead, but it would be obviously incredible,” Zorko said on Thursday.

“To play one game of AFL is a massive achievement, but to reach a milestone like that, when not a lot of players get that opportunity to do it, it’s going to be pretty special if it happens this year.

“We’ll be trying our absolute hardest this weekend to try to get there.”

Commitment has never been a problem for Zorko, but injuries have crept up on him in the latter stages of his career,

However, he said “understanding” his role since returning from a calf injury a little more than two months ago had been a key factor in his form resurgence.

Dayne Zorko has been hard at work preparing for the preliminary final. Picture: Richard Walker

“The main thing is just understanding my role and doing what is needed for the team and understanding moments in games when I can impact and when I don’t need to impact,” Zorko said.

“That’s certainly helped, and we’ve got such a great young group of kids coming through. Me helping them and guiding them through, and stepping in when I need to, has probably been something that I’ve tried to add to my game a little bit.”

It’s part of Zorko having found the right balance between “playing for” himself and knowing when to “step in” with others despite the captaincy now being shared by star pair Lachie Neale and Harris Andrews.

“Being able to have led the team over the past few years, I understand the vibe on the field and around the change rooms, so I can step in with the team if I feel like they’re not switched on,” he said.

“I have a really good connection around the group as to understanding what and how everyone’s feeling … but the way that Lachie and Harris have done it their way has been awesome as well.

“It speaks for itself. We’re in another preliminary final, so everyone’s bought into that

“The (leadership) change has been seamless. It’s certainly helped with me just worrying about myself, getting my body right, and hopefully putting in the best performance for the team every week.”

Zorko said key defender Jack Payne, who is suffering from an ankle injury, was “happy and optimistic” about his chances of playing against the Blues.

“He’s a very important player for us, there’s no doubt about that, but if ‘Payney’ wasn’t to get up for whatever reason, we’ve got players like Darcy Gardiner and Darragh Joyce that have come in and, as we’ve seen this year, do fantastic roles for us, so it’s a ‘next-man up’ mentality for us,” he said.

Originally published as Former Brisbane captain Dayne Zorko approaches career milestone