Senior Dayne Zorko (2011-)

Dylan12

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Club Champion analysis
And the best individual performances of the season?

22 votes – Dayne Zorko – Round 7 v Collingwood (Gabba). In the shoot-out against the Pies, when the brave Lions fell seven points short, he had 34 possessions (16 contested), four goals and 10 tackles to be best afield in a losing side. He also received maximum votes in the AFLCA award.

20 votes – Dayne Zorko – Round 20 v North Melbourne (Gabba). He was best afield in a losing side with 35 possessions, two goals and 10 tackles.
 

Dylan12

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Player Review: Dayne Zorko
While most of his numbers were down on his All Australia year of 2017, Dayne Zorko still made a huge impact for the Lions in 2018. The start of the season was tough for the Lions’ diminutive midfielder, who found himself copping plenty of attention each week from the opposition’s best tagger. It took the best part of a couple of months for Zorko to learn how to keep his composure and start breaking away from the taggers.

This change coincided with Dayne Beams stepping down from the captaincy, elevating Zorko to the top role – a position he relished. The responsibility shifted his focus on field.

“I couldn’t think about my own game personally anymore. I had to think about what I could provide for the team,” Zorko said following the season. “When you’re just a player, there’s no doubt about it you’re certainly always worried about your own performance and how you’re contributing to the team.”

The best feature of Zorko’s game in 2018 was his pressure – ranking 3rd overall in the AFL for tackles with 159 for the season. In 22 matches, he averaged 21 disposals a game and kicked 26 goals for the season. His consistency and durability have always been a strong point, playing 20 or more matches in each of his last six seasons.

Zorko won his fourth Merrett-Murray Medal at the end of the season by just one vote from Dayne Beams. In doing so he became just the second man in Club history to win four consecutive Merrett-Murray Medals. The only other person to achieve such a feat was the legendary Kevin Murray, who won five straight from 1960-64. While the award came as a surprise to a few, Zorko’s elite work ethic and leadership impressed the coaches consistently throughout the year.

If the Lions’ are able to bolster their midfield ahead of 2019, which is the stated aim of Fagan and General Manager of Football David Noble, Zorko will be a huge beneficiary as opposition sides will have more to worry about than just him and Dayne Beams in the middle.

Senior games: 22

Coaches Comment - Dale Tapping, Midfield Coach

"A good strong season. Probably not as big in terms of numbers as 2017 but I thought he led the team really well and he played a more sacrificial role for the team. His pressure was right up there with the best in the AFL."
 

M Malice

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By the Gabba.
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My personal highlight was THE to and fro social media foreplay messages, the behind closed doors skin on skin climax of the exchange may have been one of Dayne's.
 

Dylan12

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Great Dayne wises up after taggers' torrid treatment (Michael Whiting)
FOUR-TIME best and fairest winner Dayne Zorko is still improving and will be "wiser" for a challenging 2018, Brisbane coach Chris Fagan says. Speaking with AFL.com.au, Fagan said he also believed a stronger midfield – including star recruits Lachie Neale and Jarryd Lyons – would help take the opposition focus off the Lions captain.

Zorko won his fourth straight Merrett-Murray Medal last season despite being heavily tagged in most of Brisbane's games, averaging 21 disposals, kicking 26 goals and putting on a ton of pressure both onball and in the forward line.

"I thought he was heavily tagged last year. He's got some good midfielders around him that might attract taggers or take the heat off him," Fagan said. "I think he'll be wiser for the experience. "There were games last year, and from a media perspective he might have only touched the ball 16 times and not had a good game, but the one thing that never changed with him was his pressure, he's one of the best in the game. "Lots of games where he had only 15 touches but had 30 pressure acts. That's a good thing. "Sometimes when guys get tagged they give up – he doesn't."

Zorko will turn 30 on February 9 but has had arguably the best pre-season of his career. Always a strong runner, the dynamic midfielder broke 10 minutes for the first time in his life at Brisbane's 3km time trial to narrowly trail home winner Jarrod Berry. "It's a great example to set to your teammates that he can do that," Fagan said.

The acquisition of Neale and Lyons – two of the competition's top-10 clearance players last year – and the development of Berry and Hugh McCluggage is starting to give Brisbane an excellent midfield mix of ball-winners and outside runners. "Hopefully all the attention doesn't go to 'Zorks' and I think it won't," Fagan said. "I think you'll see the emergence of those players and it'll be tougher to stick a tag on a Lions midfielder next year thinking that's enough to get the job done. "I think that was possibly the (opposition) view last year, 'they've got Zorko, they've got (Dayne) Beams, so if you stop Zorko you've probably got them covered'. "Guys like Charlie Cameron can run through there. (Cam) Rayner will do it more, there's good options.

"The mix is there but they have to learn to work together and make each other better. "It's about the collective result, not one or two individuals. "The mindset is along those lines. Time will tell when we play games. "They seem more interested in the collective midfield performance than they are in the individual star syndrome that can happen. We're trying to move past that."
 

Dylan12

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Zorko not afraid to hype up Lions
Golf is keeping Brisbane players grounded this pre-season but captain Dayne Zorko isn’t afraid of putting big expectations on the Lions with finals in sight in 2019. Serious games of golf are keeping Brisbane grounded despite hype around the team reaching new heights this season.

Captain Dayne Zorko is one of 16 Lions players and staff with a membership at Brisbane Golf Club who plays off for a monthly jacket and Gabba bragging rights. This isn’t your average social hit, Gold Coast recruit Jarryd Lyons is the lowest marker with a handicap of five while sledging and banter is left until the 19th hole. Perennial bridesmaid Zorko has collected four seconds from the 10 jackets contested and says the pursuit is a perfect distraction for his tight knit side. “Golf’s a sport that you probably never perfect and I think that’s why we love it so much,” Zorko said. “It takes your mind off it (football) and makes you think about something different.“We’re all fairly serious about it, so unless someone’s going really badly we’re really committed to it (and don’t sledge).”
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Zorko is serious about his side’s top-eight hopes this year too, happy to put a top-eight goal on record 40 days out from the season-opener against West Coast. No doubt about that, we feel we can do that,” he said of the likelihood of the club’s first finals foray in a decade. "We’ve made some great inroads in last few years, this year we want to go a step further than that. “It’s a great place to come and work each day with no cliques, everyone’s equal and wants to be successful.”

A 5-17 record last season featured five losses by seven points or less, while the addition of Lachie Neale and improvement of their young contingent has bred plenty of optimism. “We need to learn from those games where we faltered by a goal or a little more and how we can get those goals back,” Zorko said.
“There is a lot of hype but being in Queensland it doesn’t reach us as much as it would in Melbourne. "We just have to keep coming in and working hard; the games aren’t here yet so there’s not a lot else we can do.”
 

Dylan12

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Brisbane star midfielder Dayne Zorko named captain for 2019 after filling in for Dayne Beams last year
Star midfielder Dayne Zorko took over the Brisbane captaincy on an interim basis last year, but now he has the role full-time after the Lions unveiled its 2019 leadership group.

The 30-year-old has won the past four Merrett-Murray Medals and assumed the responsibility from Dayne Beams midway through last season, before the All-Australian was traded back to Collingwood in October. While the appointment comes as no surprise, it does complete a remarkable turn in fortunes for the Queenslander, given he was overlooked in four drafts before finally earning an opportunity at the age of 22 after winning four straight best and fairest awards at QAFL club Broadbeach.

Zorko will lead a new-look eight-man leadership group that will be mentored by four-time premiership great Luke Hodge. Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said Zorko deserved to become Brisbane’s 57th captain after stepping up to the plate last year when Beams stood down from the role. “Dayne took over midway through last year as captain,” Fagan said. “He accepted this challenge with enthusiasm and his leadership and drive was a key factor in our performance improvement in the second half of the season.

“His teammates respect and enjoy his positive approach and passion for the club. “This is the primary reason he has been voted by the players and coaches to lead the team in 2019.”

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Dylan12

Brownlow Medallist
Sep 7, 2007
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Dayne Zorko to captain Lions in 2019 (Josie Fielding)
Dayne Zorko today becomes the 57th person to Captain the Brisbane Lions in their combined 133-year VFL/AFL history of Fitzroy and the Brisbane Bears.

Zorko will front an eight-man leadership group with Harris Andrews as Vice-Captain. Ryan Lester, Stefan Martin and Allen Christensen will return to the group, with new additions Darcy Gardiner, Jarrod Berry and Lachie Neale. The group will continue to be mentored by Luke Hodge.

Zorko was the interim Captain for most of the 2018 season with the team winning four of their five victories under his reign. He will become only the second Captain to wear the number 15 guernsey, following Fitzroy’s John Hayes in 1966. He is the 11th person to Captain the Brisbane Lions post-merger.

Zorko said he was honoured to be officially instated as Captain by his teammates. “I am really honoured to be Captain of the football Club, a Club with a great, successful history,” he said. “I am absolutely thrilled to lead this Club into the next chapter.”

Zorko’s arrival at the Gabba is one of resilience. He came in 2011 after being knocked back in numerous AFL Drafts. The following year the energetic midfielder made his debut in Round 7, 2012 and has never looked back. This season he is expected to play his 150th AFL match.

Senior Coach Chris Fagan is proud of the 30-year-old’s appointment. “Dayne took over mid-way through last year as Captain,” Fagan said. “He accepted this challenge with enthusiasm and his leadership and drive was a key factor in our performance improvement in the second half of the season. “His teammates respect and enjoy his positive approach and passion for the Club. “This is the primary reason he has been voted by the players and coaches to lead the team in 2019.”

Zorko is regarded as one of the best defenders in the competition. Last season he ranked in the Top 5 key defensive categories including pressure acts and chase down tackles. “His ability to win the ball and attack the game on offence is undoubted,” Fagan said. “His willingness to apply pressure is how he inspires his teammates and why he was our obvious choice for Captain.”
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