“Forged Through Adversity” is the motto of the famous US Navy Seals. It could also be the motto for our Captain Dayne Zorko who plays his 200th game versus the Saints tonight.
It’s hard to believe that someone of his talent didn’t play his first AFL game until he was 23 years of age. Despite being a highly decorated Under 18 player for QLD he was overlooked at 4 National Drafts.
“Too small”, “Not quick enough”, “Not fit enough” were the main reasons given for his non-selection. Yet through all this rejection he still believed he could make it and set about making himself fitter, stronger and faster.
A best-on-ground performance in a state game v Western Australia in 2011 stirred the interest of Lions recruiters and the rest is history. He is now a four-time club champion, an All Australian and is into his 4thseason as our Captain.
Zorks always thought he could make it and it is this optimism and resilience that has made him the ideal Captain of the Lions as we’ve grown as a club in the past few years.
When Dayne Beams stepped down as Captain for personal reasons in the middle of the 2018 season we were at a low ebb. Nine games into the season we were yet to record a victory and things were tough for our incredibly talented but very young playing squad.
We needed a Captain with energy and positivity and a belief that we could turn things around. Dayne was the obvious choice, he’d done it himself as a player and here was his chance to instil the same determination and resolve into our playing group.
The mood of our group changed almost immediately – we won the next week against the Hawks and went on to record another four victories and a number of narrow losses in the 2nd half of the season.
The optimism and belief we had been searching for was alive within the group and the man leading the charge was our Captain.
To this day he continues to drive the standards and expectations and he has played an enormous role in our improvement these past few years. Most importantly he leads by example on the field.
He is tough, courageous, skilful and passionate. He never takes a backwards step and knows how to lift his performance when the team needs him.
His consistency is elite and his defensive work rate to tackle and pressure the opposition is peerless in the AFL. His leadership skills have grown and we’ve all gotten to enjoy his upbeat personality and sense of humour.
I feel so fortunate that our pathways have collided. He has made my job as coach so much easier because he always believed that we could turn things around from the tough spot we were in three years ago.
He’s convinced all the other boys to follow him and that’s what great leaders do.
Zorks is small in stature but he is a Giant of our club as a player, teammate, leader and ambassador. His 200th game and high status within the industry has been well and truly earned. He is a Lion by heart and a Lion by nature.
Well played skipper!!!!
