Brisbane veteran Dayne Zorko has praised teammate Josh Dunkley for a “phenomenal” performance during Friday night’s win over Carlton.
Dunkley finished with 33 disposals, 13 tackles, 14 contested possessions and six clearances while putting defensive work into Blues skipper Patrick Cripps.
Zorko, who missed the game with a hamstring injury, said it may be the best individual effort he has seen.
“It was a special win. Going down to Marvel Stadium with a sold out crowd and to put in that performance defensively was exceptional,” the former Brisbane captain told SEN Breakfast.
“Josh Dunkley’s game … I’m not sure I’ve seen a better individual game than what he was able to produce. He was just unbelievable.
“It was clearly a key matchup for both us and Carlton and to Josh’s credit, his timing was to absolute perfection on the night. He made contact with Patrick when he needed to and gave him no space.
“For him to then work off him and have the sort of game that he did not only defensively, but in attack as well. It was phenomenal. I was quite speechless watching it on the night.
“His effort and intent was first class and that’s what he brought him to the club for and he is delivering in spades.”
Zorko is listed at 2-3 weeks on the injury list, but has put his hand up to play this weekend.
“I’m going really, really well. Fingers crossed the strength and conditioning staff are listening to this conversation because I’ll be putting my hand up for selection this week,” he said.
“I had a really good week on the track. Started a bit slow, but since then we knew it was going to be an injury that recovers really quickly and I’ve done everything right over the weekend and got through a mountain of work on Saturday morning.
“We’ll go all systems ahead as if I’m playing this weekend. Clearly any setbacks or niggles will stamp that out, but for me, I’ll be preparing to play.”
Brisbane will be looking to continue a strong run of form when they take on Essendon this weekend.