Luke Hodge believes the captaincy of Dayne Zorko will be raised by Brisbane after his on-field actions left an opponent in tears.
The Lions skipper sledged Melbourne defender Harrison Petty last Friday night with words regarding a family member that cut seriously deep.
Zorko, 33, is in his fifth season as captain of the club having taken over from Dayne Beams in 2018, so it’s possible the time is now for the Lions to start looking at life beyond their current leader.
Former Lions defender Hodge, who captained Hawthorn for six seasons, says there is always a shelf life for captains.
“There’s no doubt that’s going to be raised,” he said on SENQ Breakfast.
“There’s only a certain (amount of) time that you should be captain in my opinion anyway because sometimes all those little things that were so important when you started, you drop away from.
“I was captain of Hawthorn for six years and I went to ‘Clarko’ (Alastair Clarkson) after my fourth year, after we won our second premiership, and I said, ‘How are we going? I’m happy to pass it over’, because we had emerging leaders in Jordan Lewis and Jarryd Roughead. I said, ‘If these guys are the next step, I’m happy to take a step back’, because you’ve always got to think of the future of the football club.
“I ended up doing it for two or three more years, did my sixth (season), then I went and had the same conversation and they said, ‘Yep, we’ve got other guys coming up and you can help mould them’.
“These are the things that are always in the back of a captain’s mind but it’s also in the back of a footy club’s mind. You’ve got other really good leaders in Harris Andrews and a few others that can take that next step in their own personal leadership and to still have other leaders round them to guide them is a good thing to have.”
Hodge admits he has been surprised by a lack of action by the AFL as a whole and the AFL Players’ Association (AFLPA).
He spoke of the incident itself, suggesting what was said by Zorko was “clear-cut”, but is sure the veteran will take ownership.
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“I’ve played with a lot of people who are passionate and emotional and get carried away,” he said.
“‘Zorks’ will put his hand up and say that he crossed the line.
“Melbourne are pretty good at the sledge as well. From what I’ve heard, they went personal back at him. The Lions haven’t said anything to protect him.
“I think Max Gawn was correct that there is a certain line. You can go at someone about how they play and all the other stuff but once you bring in family members it’s just a limit that you don’t want to go to.
“The AFLPA and the AFL haven’t done much about it which I’ve been surprised on.
“You still want to have respect for the opposition and your teammates with the way you go about it.
“It was pretty clear-cut from what I’ve heard from a few people on the ground.
“The Lions didn’t back away from it, they confronted it straight up. If you listen to all the Melbourne players and staff, Simon Goodwin said well done to the Lions, they handled it straight away, they put their hand up, they didn’t shy away from it, they came and spoke to us straight after the game so both Petty and Zorks could have a chat and they shook hands on the field.
“When you see a player on the field in tears, it’s pretty big especially on such a big occasion in a big game.
“Both teams have settled on it but it still leaves a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths.”
Hodge also urged his former club to get on the front foot and nip the situation in the bud so the Lions can fully focus on their Elimination Final against Richmond on Thursday week.
He highlighted the importance of moving on from the saga so as to not distract from the significant match ahead of them.
“You can understand the Lions trying to protect him (Zorko),” Hodge said further.
“On social media and all the networks for people to reach players he’s been ripped apart by a lot of people having a fair crack at him.
“So you can see the Lions are sitting there trying to protect him. Obviously there is mental health as well and how he’s going to react from it, the amount of pressure that’s on him, how the team is going, what he’s been through the last week.
“As far as confronting it, I believe the Lions should jump on the front foot because if you leave it until next week, you’re going into a big final on a Thursday night against a team who came back from a big deficit to beat you, people are concerned about that. You don’t want the players’ mindset to not be focused on what you need to do on Thursday.
“This afternoon, tomorrow or Friday, put someone out, put a player out, put Harris Andrews the vice-captain, or if ‘Zorks’ wants to do it to get the questions out of the way, because next time he does media, and if it’s next week leading in which most captains do, they’ll ask questions about it.
“For his performance moving forward, for his focus on the final and for the Lions and his teammates, I think they’ve got to just put someone out the front and just take the questions. Players are so well-rehearsed these days that no matter what angle they come they’ll have a certain answer they’re going to give back.
“That’s all they have to do. Show their face, they can play it in the media, then everyone can move on to the next week.”