This time last year, Dayne Zorko collapsed to the ground like Sergeant Elias in Platoon. Twenty minutes later he was in the rooms, firing out XXXX cans from the esky, like Greg Williams from the bottom of a pack. By that point Chris Fagan had already been in his players’ ears – be humble, stay fit, don’t come back heavy the way Hawthorn did in 2008, and don’t squander the opportunity to build on this success.
As Brisbane basks in their back-to-back premiership, it’s worth reflecting on a hinge moment early in the 2024 season. The Lions were 13th, had won two from seven, and had just been smacked by GWS in Canberra. Weighed down by the ongoing Hawthorn racism allegations, Fagan was having health problems and had asked the club for several weeks off. Against Gold Coast in round eight, they lost Brandon Starcevich in the warm-up. Lincoln McCarthy, a popular and talented forward, ruptured his ACL. An hour later, Darcy Gardiner wrecked his knee as well, the fifth player on the list to do so. But they beat the Suns, in a win Fagan described as one of the most significant in his time in football, and they were up and away.
