Dayne Zorko last night claimed two giant pieces of AFL All-Australian history – he’s now the oldest All-Australian of the modern era, and has won a repeat A/A blazer after the equal longest absence from the side.

Chosen in the 2024 All-Australian side with Lions teammate Lachie Neale after the hottest selection debate in years, 35-year-old Zorko surpasses four 34-year-olds at the top of the age list on the A/A Honour Roll.

In what is another extraordinary chapter in a career that didn’t begin until he was 23 after being overlooked four years in a row in the AFL draft, Zorko surpassed Paul Roos (Sydney), Corey Enright (Geelong), Tom Hawkins (Geelong) and Matthew Boyd (Western Bulldogs).

He also left behind six 33-year-old All-Australians - Barry Hall and Robert Murphy (Bulldogs), Gary Ablett Snr (Geelong), Craig Bradley (Carlton), Matthew Richardson (Richmond) and Taylor Walker (Adelaide).

And, having won his first A/A blazer in 2017, Zorko’s seven-year gap between selections equals the record of the retiring Hawkins and Dustin Fletcher (Essendon).

Hawkins had a seven-year wait between his first and second A/A selections in 2012 and 2019 before adding further blazers in 2020-21-22, and 400-gamer Fletcher was seven years between his first A/A blazer in 2000 and his second in 2007.

West Coast’s Jeremy McGovern claimed his fifth A/A selection last night and GWS’ Lachie Whitfield his second after a six-year absence.

They joined four others who had six years between selections - Boyd, Ben Hart (Adelaide), Travis Boak (Port Adelaide) and Gavin Wanganeen, whose six-year wait was split over Essendon and Port.

And if the Zorko story needs any further enhancement – he was named in the A/A side at half back. It is a role the long-time midfielder/forward only took on after Keidean Coleman, the club’s first-choice distributor from the back half, suffered a season-ending knee injury in Opening Round.

The other big Brisbane news from the AFL Awards Dinner in Melbourne was Kai Lohmann’s third placing in the Telstra AFL Rising Star Award. He polled 21 votes to finish behind Geelong Ollie Dempsey (52) and North Melbourne’s George Wardlaw (43), and ahead of St.Kilda’s Darcy Wilson (15).

Neale’s fourth A/A selection in his sixth season with Brisbane sees him join Nigel Lappin and Jason Akermanis on the second line of the Brisbane All-Australian honour roll headed by five-time choice Michael Voss.

Other Brisbane players to have won A/A selection multiple times have been Simon Black (3), Justin Leppitsch (3), Harris Andrews (2), Zorko (2), Charlie Cameron (2), Jonathan Brown (2), Chris Johnson (2), Daniel Rich, Luke Power, Tom Rockliff and Craig Lambert.

Melbourne captain Max Gawn picked up his seventh A/A blazer last night to move onto the second line of the A/A Honour Roll with Wayne Carey (North Melbourne) and Nathan Buckley (Collingwood), behind only eight-time selections are Gary Ablett Jnr (Geelong/Gold Coast), Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide/Geelong), Lance Franklin (Hawthorn/Sydney), Mark Riccuito (Adelaide) and Robert Harvey

The Bulldogs Marcus Bontempelli, named A/A captain last night ahead of Carlton’s Patrick Cripps after he’d picked up his third Leigh Matthews Trophy as the AFL Players’  Most Valuable Player, now has six A/A blazers.

All this covers the period since the introduction of the official AFL All-Australian side in 1991 in which 350 players have won a green and gold blazer.

Neale, named on the bench, is now Brisbane’s second-oldest A/A pick. He was aged 31 years 92 days at the last game of the home-and-away season, which is the year-by-year cut-off date for comparison purposes. He was 17 days older than Daniel Rich (31)/75), and had three years on Voss, Lappin and Johnson (28).

Lions co-captain Harris Andrews, Brisbane’s youngest All-Australian at 23 in 2019, was the most contentious omission from the final side last night after McGovern, Carlton’s Jacob Weitering and Fremantle’s Luke Ryan were preferred for the key defensive spots.

The team was:-

B: Nick Blakey (Syd), Jacob Weitering (Carl), Luke Ryan (Frem)
HB: Dayne Zorko (Bris), Jeremy McGovern (WC), Dan Houston (Port)
C: Errol Gulden (Syd), Marcus Bontempelli (WC-capt), Nick Daicos (Coll)
HF: Chad Warner (Syd), Jeremy Cameron (Geel), Isaac Heeney (Syd)
F: Jake Waterman (WC), Jesse Hogan (GWS), Dylan Moore (Haw)
R: Max Gawn (Melb), Patrick Cripps (Carl – vc), Caleb Serong (Frem).
INT: Lachie Neale (Bris), Lachie Whitfield (GWS), Adam Treloar (WB), Zak Butters (Port).

Minor premiers Sydney had four players included, while Brisbane, Carlton, Fremantle, GWS, Port Adelaide, Western Bulldogs and West Coast had two. Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn and Melbourne had one representative, and Adelaide, Essendon, Gold Coast, Richmond, North Melbourne and StKilda none.

A/A squad members who missed final selection with the Brisbane trio of Andrews, Joe Daniher and Cam Rayner were Charlie Curnow, Harry McKay (Carl), Darcy Cameron (Coll), Zach Merrett (Ess), Andrew Brayshaw, Jordan Clark, Hayden Young (Frem), Max Holmes, Tyson Stengle (Geel), Noah Anderson, Sam Collins (G/Coast), Brent Daniels (GWS), James Sicily, Massimo D’Ambrosio (Haw), Harry Sheezel, Tristan Xerri (NM), Jason Horne-Francis (Port), Jack Sinclair (StK), Bailey Dale (WB).

Full details of the 23 All-Australian selections aged 32 or older since 1991 are:-

1 – 35/187 – Dayne Zorko (Bris) 2024
2 – 34/348 – Corey Enright (Geel) 2016
3 – 34/63 – Paul Roos (Syd) 1997
4 – 34/30 – Tom Hawkins (Geel) 2022
5 – 34/1 – Matthew Boyd (WB) 2016
6 – 33/336 – Gary Ablett Snr (Geel) 1995
7 – 33/311 – Craig Bradley (Carl) 1997  
7 – 33/201 – Barry Hall (WB) 2010
9 – 33/165 – Matthew Richardson (Rich) 2008)
10 – 33/123 – Taylor Walker (Adel) 2023
11 – 33/81 – Robert Murphy (WB) 2015
12 – 32/328 – Sam Mitchell (Haw) 2015
13 – 32/319 – Shaun Burgoyne (Haw) 2015
14 – 32/246 – Simon Goodwin (Adel) 2009
15 - 32/237 – Max Gawn (Melb) 2024
16 – 32/222 – Paul Salmon (Haw) 1997
17 – 32/178 - Stephen Milne (StK) 2012
18 – 32/174 – Tony Lockett (Syd) 1998
19 – 32/117 – Dustin Fletcher (Ess) 2007
20 – 32/89 – Matthew Scarlett (Geel) 2011
21 – 32/88 – Stephen Silvagni (Carl) 1999
22 – 32/31 – Travis Boak (Port) 2020
23 – 32/9 – Robert Harvey (StK) 2003

Zorko, aged 35 years 197 days in the Round 24 win over Essendon, is already Brisbane’s third-oldest player. And having re-signed last week for a 14^th season in 2025, he is poised to go past Alastair Lynch (36/98) and Roger Merrett (36/155).

And, having already won the Merrett/Murray Medal as the Brisbane Club Champion five times in 2015 (tied) and 2016-17-18-21, he will be in line later this year to go one ahead of Voss, a five-time winner in the club’s emerging years of 1995-96 and their power era of 2000, 2001 (tied) and 2003.

Neale, club champion in 2019-20-22, will be a contender his fourth, which would put him one ahead of three-time winners Simon Black and Jonathan Brown. Black tied with Voss in 2011 and won outright in 2002 and 2006, and Brown claimed a 2007-08-09 hat-trick.

Lohmann’s third-placing continued a proud Brisbane record in the Rising Star in which the club heads the overall win tally with four - Nathan Buckley (1993), Chris Scott (1994), Rich (2009) and Lewis Taylor (2014).

And it could have been five had Will Ashcroft, runner-up last year, not been injured.

The Lions had five previous third-place finishes -  Black (1999), Beau McDonald (2000), Richard Hadley (2004), Tom Rockliff (2010) and Alex Witherden (2018) were third.

James Aish was fourth in 2014, while five Brisbane players have finished fifth - Daniel Bradshaw (1997), Luke Power (1999), Jed Adcock (2005), Eric Hipwood (2017) and Darcy Wilmott (2023).

MOST ALL-AUSTRALIAN SELECTIONS

8 – Gary Ablett Jnr (Geel/GC), Patrick Dangerfield (Adel/Geel), Lance Franklin (Haw/Syd), Robert Harvey (StK), Mark Riccuito (Adel)

7 – Wayne Carey (NM), Nathan Buckley (Coll), Max Gawn (Melb)

6 – Ben Cousins (WC), Dean Cox (WC), Corey Enright, Joel Selwood, Matthew Scarlett (Geel), Chris Judd (WC/Carl), Matthew Pavlich (Frem), Scott Pendlebury (Coll), Nick Riewoldt (StK), Marcus Bontempelli (WB).

5 – Michael Voss (Bris), Tom Hawkins (Geel), James Hird (Ess), Simon Goodwin (Adel), Brad Johnson (WB), Matthew Lloyd (Ess), Tony Lockett (StK/Syd), Peter Matera (WC), Andrew McLeod (Adel), Alex Rance (Rich), Stephen Silvagni (Carl), Tom Stewart (Geel), Gavin Wanganeen (Ess/Port),  Scott West (WB), Dane Swan (Coll), Jeremy McGovern (WC).