AUSSIE RULES Return to finals goal of Zorko’s

PROUD Queenslander Dayne Zorko says he is driven by a burning desire to win a final as Brisbane captain after signing a bumper new contract with the Lions.

It is difficult to imagine Zorko playing for anyone else but Brisbane still surprised their newly elected captain and four-time club champion, who still had a year to run on his existing contract, with an upgraded three-year deal believed to be worth close to $2.5 million.

While Zorko has hit pay dirt with his deal, which makes him the highest paid player in the state, he said the chance to guide the Lions back to September was even more enticing.

This year marks 10 seasons since the Lions last played finals under the captaincy of Jonathan Brown.

“I have thought long and hard about how that could be an opportunity for me,” he said.

“I think it is great that there is talk about our club heading back into the finals. I certainly want to be the man in charge.”

Some figures within the club are trying to temper expectations.

Coach Chris Fagan has already declared he did not believe only a return to September this season would constitute a pass mark, how- ever Zorko knows no other way but to carry his heart on his sleeve and is happy to dream big.

“No one wants to put a roof on what we can do,” he said.

“We have seen the likes of the Bulldogs and Richmond rise … quickly in recent years. Once a side gets a roll on they feel indestructible and it is almost like you can’t beat them.

“I understand the season gets judged on wins and losses, so we have to just focus on what we can control which is executing our game plan, because if we do that we feel like we are in a really strong position to challenge the top sides.

“Every team wants to play finals and that’s an aspiration of ours.”

The 30-year-old said Fagan was responsible for a significant shift within the Lions where the language had changed from getting off the bottom of the ladder to reaching the top.

“Fages has ingrained that in us, on his first day he asked us what are we playing for, why are we here,” he said.

“He has come from a club that won four premierships and he wants us to experience that as well. That is the driving factor behind everything we do.”

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