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Dayne Zorko: The AFL's ultimate unsung hero

The Brisbane Lions are finally looking like a decent footy team. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)
Roar Guru
18th July, 2017
5

Dayne Zorko. Not exactly a household name in the AFL, as his side, the Brisbane Lions, sit on the bottom of the ladder in a state heavily dominated by another sport.

His side, once dominant, are seen as irrelevant to most supporters across Australia.

However, after appreciating his tremendous body of work over the past two seasons it is safe to say that he is one of the best players in the competition at the moment.

Standing at a lowly 175cm and weighing just 74kg, Zorko is not blessed with the physical attributes of other elite players such as Patrick Dangerfield, Nat Fyfe and Dustin Martin. What he does exhibit however is electrifying pace, which he uses to break the game open for his teammates and make himself dangerous in a manner nobody else in the competition can.

Since his debut in 2012, Zorko has been a regular fixture in the Lions team having played in 116 matches, throughout this time he has established himself as a genuine ball magnet with an average of 21.6 disposals per game (26.3 in 2017).

Along with his excellent ability to win the ball, Zorko has also shown that he is an excellent distributor with a disposal efficiency of 64 per cent. While also cementing himself as one of the best line breakers in game with an average of 557 metres gained thus far in 2017.

Being able to win the ball, break the lines and hit targets have seen Zorko emerge into an excellent example of the modern midfielder and become one of the competitions best players.

Along with his excellent work in the midfield, Zorko can also make himself dangerous up forward with 125 goals over his career at an average of 1.07 goals a game. Thus cementing his position as one of the competitions most multi-faceted players.

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Dayne Zorko of the Brisbane Lions AFL

(AAP Image/Dan Peled)

On paper, Dayne Zorko truly has become a coaches’ dream in the modern game, and under Chris Fagan has again taken himself to a new level, establishing himself as the face of the rejuvenated Lions along side namesake Dayne Beams.

So, with such good statistics over his career, excellent characteristics and a gritty determination why is it that Dayne Zorko has not received the plaudits he so rightfully deserves as one of the competitions elite?

First and foremost it comes down to the team he is currently playing for: the Brisbane Lions.

Situated in the heart of rugby league country, the Lions have struggled to truly gain traction up in Brisbane. Other than their period of success in the early 2000s, crowd numbers and membership tallies have mainly been mediocre.

As a result of this, since those premiership seasons the Lions have been seen as irrelevant by most AFL supporters with just one finals appearance since 2005 and many seasons in the competitions bottom four.

This mediocrity has thus resulted in many young talents leaving the Lions. The team is caught in one of the worst on and off field situations faced by any club in the modern era of Australian football.

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Due to the underperforming nature of the Lions and their little relevance in both Brisbane and the country as a whole, some extremely talented players have fallen through the cracks of Australia’s sports crazed media. As simply, nobody is paying much attention to Lions games.

Players such as Tom Rockliff and Stefan Martin are other examples of under-appreciated players, who if they played for clubs in a large market such as Melbourne and Adelaide would be viewed in a much more positive light.

Hence, as a result of this lack of coverage Zorko has slipped under the radar of most AFL supporters and is generally seen as just another Lions player by the average football fan.

The Lions irrelevance in the modern competition has also seen him been snubbed of honours such as All Australian squad/team selections and Brownlow votes. as not enough people are genuinely intrigued in Brisbane games to realise the overall effect he has on the team.

However, with Chris Fagan at the helm and a new direction lead by head of football operations David Noble, things look to be turning around for the Lions as more young talents are re-signing and the team is becoming more competitive on the field.

With another top three draft pick this year, the Lions look on track to return to football relevance in the next five years, which as a result should see Zorko’s reputation as an elite player grow.

Despite the mediocrity that has surrounded the 28-year-old for the majority of his career, Zorko has simply gone about his business in the hope of experiencing success up North in his home town.

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His attitude towards the game and unrecognised ability by many followers of the game has thus seen him become the AFL’s ultimate unsung hero, who now under the tutelage of Chris Fagan deserves to experience success and become recognised as one of the competitions elite players.

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