How Fagan was true to his 2022 words when he invited Zorko to lift premiership cup

Brisbane coach Chris Fagan made good on a promise from the end of 2022 after winning Saturday’s AFL Grand Final against Sydney.

That promise was made to veteran Dayne Zorko, who after five seasons handed over the captaincy at the conclusion of 2022 to Harris Andrews and Lachie Neale.

Having led the side from cellar dwellers to premiership contenders, Fagan promised Zorko that if and when the club lifted the cup with Andrews and Neale as joint skippers, he’d join them on the dais provided he was still playing.

Zorko admitted that Fagan made that promise to him after he initially didn’t want to hand over his leadership duties, with one of his reasons being that he wanted to one day lift the cup aloft as a premiership skipper.

“That was obviously a really special moment,” Zorko told SENQ Breakfast.

“He gave me the opportunity to go up on stage with the other boys and hold up the premiership cup.

“A couple of years ago, when I sat down with ‘Fages’ we spoke about whether I'd be the captain moving forward or not, that was selfishly one of the driving factors for me not wanting to give it up.

“I wanted to be on that stage on the last Saturday of September, holding up that cup, and he promised me then and there.

“He said, ‘When we do get there, mate, you’ll be the first one up there’.”

As that promise was made in 2022, Zorko said that he had completely forgotten about it after his side climbed the premiership mountain on Saturday, with the gesture coming as a welcome surprise.

“He was true to his words two years later, and I'd actually totally forgotten about it,” Zorko said.

“At the time on Saturday, I was like, ‘Oh no, don’t be silly, you guys do it, it’s all good’.

“I was just so happy, but that’s a really special memory and I’m so grateful for that.”

Zorko had 26 disposals, 10 marks and nine rebound 50s in a quality performance in Saturday’s decider.