ONLY FINALS WILL DO
AFL: Proud Queenslander Dayne Zorko says he is driven by a burning desire to win play finals as Brisbane captain after signing a bumper new contract with the Lions.
It would be 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 hit paydirt with his new deal, which made him the highest-paid player in the state, he said the opportunity 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.
“It certainly is (an enticement), I have thought long and hard about how that could be an opportunity for me,’’ Zorko said yesterday.
“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 declared he does not believe only a return to September action this season would constitute a pass mark – but Zorko knows no other way than 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 very quickly in recent years. Once a side gets a role on they feel indestructible.
“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. We want to set the bar high, we want to be a side that challenges ourselves.’’
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,’’ Zorko 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.’’
COLLINGWOOD has rewarded coach Nathan Buckley with a new two-year deal taking him through until at least the end of the 2021 AFL season.