Former captain Dayne Zorko faces the robust activity of forcing his manner into Brisbane’s spherical 1 group on the again of no pre-season video games after being dominated out of the Lions’ trial towards Geelong on Thursday evening
A supposed minor hamstring tear will now pressure Zorko out of a fourth successive hitout, with the veteran having additionally missed final Friday’s apply match towards the Swans in addition to two intra-club contests.
Despite Zorko’s lack of soccer, Lions coach Chris Fagan remained upbeat in regards to the 34-year-old veteran’s possibilities of enjoying towards Port Adelaide in Brisbane’s season opener on March 18.
“We were half hopeful that he’d be right for Geelong but he won’t be,” Fagan stated on Tuesday.
“We’re very confident he’ll be available for round 1. With an older player like him, I’m not actually that concerned that he hasn’t had match practice.
“He’s a natural touch player. He’s very fit at the moment, so I’m happy for him to come into the season to play straight away without any of the background matches.
“We’re just using the time we’ve got while we’ve got it rather than trying to rush him because there’s no need to hurry.”
Fagan’s ringing endorsement of Zorko might be music to the ears of the skilled midfielder after he stood down as Brisbane’s captain earlier this month.
Such is the depth within the Lions’ squad that Zorko, with out the captaincy, is probably not the automated choice he as soon as was.
He wasn’t missed final week in Brisbane’s 45-point thumping of the Swans, and if the Lions once more impress towards the Cats at Brighton Homes Arena, Fagan can have some nice choice complications for spherical 1.
While Zorko gained’t play on Thursday evening, star on-baller Lachie Neale is ready to begin regardless of struggling a corked quad and dislocated finger on Thursday evening.
Neale was more likely to have been one of many 5 gamers interviewed for the Brisbane captaincy by Fagan and different Lions officers on Monday.
The Lions will announce on Wednesday who will change Zorko as skipper and whether or not they go for a co-captaincy mannequin.
“We went into this process with a really open mind,” Fagan stated.
“We looked across the AFL and there’s lots of different models. Some teams have got two (captains), some teams have got one.
“We’ve had an open mind about it. More than one is still on the cards.”
Other doubtless captaincy contenders embrace defender Harris Andrews and midfielder Hugh McCluggage.
“We’ve got a lot of quality young men at our footy club who have got great capacity to lead,” Fagan stated.
Originally printed as Lions veteran Dayne Zorko to overlook one other trial with nagging hamstring harm
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
