AFL Grand Final news: Dayne Zorko reveals how he went from injury-prone to 54 game marathon

Zorko, 37 in February, has enjoyed a brilliant career that seemed to be winding down because of diminishing form with the star midfielder aware something had to change.

He was battling soft-tissue ailments late in 2022 and told coach Chris Fagan he knew he was not an automatic first-choice player any more.

SCROLL DOWN TO RECAP ALL THE GRAND FINAL WASH-UP

He gave up the captaincy and consulted ‘The Needle Guy’ Bostock, who specialises in needling techniques which release nerve blocks and allow athletes to train at their full potential.

While he missed some games in 2023 as his body adjusted, he played every game in both of the clubs’ 27-game seasons in 2024 and 2025.

They were truly marathon campaigns for the Lions.

In Melbourne’s trio of premierships in 1955-57 the Demons played 61 games and seven finals in seasons that were only 18 home-and-away games.

But in a new 23-game home-and-away season the Lions played four finals both years.

Across those three seasons playing in Grand Finals they played 70 games and 11 total finals.

“At the end of 2022, I went into Fages’ office and it was an exit meeting and I said if I can’t get my body in the best possible shape I don’t want you to pick me,” Zorko told his masthead.

“I felt like I was letting the team down and I was letting myself down. I couldn’t perform at my best so I went away

“I found Jim Bostock who was enormous for me in my transformation

He allowed me to run pain free and off the back of that I was able to drop a lot of kilos.

In 2023 I missed a lot of football soft tissue concerns because my body was actually moving the way it was supposed to again

“So I knew at the end of 2023 I could have a very strong preseason and Fages gave me the opportunity at the end of the 2023 season to train in the backline and fortuitously I got the opportunity with ‘Kiddy’ Coleman going down. Conor McKenna went down and Fages said, ‘Mate you are in’. 50-odd games later I am absolutely loving it.”

While Harris Andrews and Lachie Neale took over as captains he retains a sense of pride in achieving so much at the club and leaving a lasting legacy.

“To see the club blossoming the way it is now. We have nearly 80,000 members, we are a destination club for a lot of players. It puts a smile on my face to know we have brought something so unique and so special to this club. And I just want to be part of it.

“There are so many different stories and so many players that we would have loved to have at our disposal. Other players that had to step up and the depth in this squad is enormous and we know there’s still so much upside, which is really positive. And I just want to cash in.

I had a lot of lean years there at the start.”

While the Grand Final was a tight and gripping affair with scores and possessions equal at half time, Zorko revealed the Lions knew how to beat the Cats from there on in.

“We were playing nowhere near our best footy but we were opening them up in the ways we wanted to,” he said.

“At half time we were really boisterous about what we could do. We could turn it up another level.

“We hadn’t played our greatest but just before three quarter time we had a moment where we had to put the foot on the throat and we did.

“We had a 19-point buffer and that wind was really strong but it died down in the fourth quarter.

I just said to the boys, “It’s process, nothing else. Don’t look forward, don’t look ahead. Every single moment you have to get right and that’s what we did”.