Dayne Zorko has supported Brisbane teammates Daniel Rich and Jack Gunston in regards to stepping down from the senior side.
The veterans shocked the footy world late last week when they made themselves unavailable for selection for the next little period of time.
Rich and Gunston cited their form and the fact their ageing bodies were handling the rigours of the game were not up to standard, so reportedly told Lions coach Chris Fagan not to pick them.
Former club captain Zorko backed the decision of the pair, praising their courage and honesty for making such a call.
“Those guys have got the runs on the board to be able to do that,” Zorko said on SENQ Breakfast.
“They’ve both had fantastic careers. Jack’s a three-time premiership player, ‘Richy’ has played over 250 games and been a champion of our football club.
“They know when their bodies are not right and clearly their bodies have been under duress the last few weeks. For them to actually have the courage to go up to ‘Fages’ and say, ‘Hey look, I’m not travelling as well as I’d like to. We think it is detrimental to the team. Is it alright if have a couple of weeks off and get ourselves in absolute peak condition?’
“For them to do that, there was no way Fages was never going to not honour it with what they’ve done throughout their careers. I think it speaks highly of those two men to come up and do that.
“I don’t reckon a younger player would be doing that, that’s for sure.”
Fagan addressed the news on Fox Footy prior to his side’s clash with the Swans at the Gabba on Friday night.
He said it panned out slightly differently to what was first reported, but did admit both Rich and Gunston had floated the idea of them missing some footy.
“Jack, Richy and I had been talking about their form probably for the best part of the last two or three weeks,” Fagan said.
“They were acutely aware of the fact they were playing below the high standards that they’ve set in the past. We got to the bye and I was hopeful that week off would freshen them up and help get them back into some good form.
“As it turned out last week they both struggled again and I thought it was time to do something about that because we can’t keep going the way that we’re going.
“On Monday, Daniel Rich sent me a text and wanted to catch up and Jack was down at the club. We got those boys in separately and I indicated to them that it was going to be very difficult to pick them this week. They were in total agreeance with that. They understood where their form was at.
“My view is they needed to train so what we’ve worked out is they’ll do a training block and at some point in time they’ll come back into play, whether that’s in the reserves or straight back into the seniors. We’ll just have to wait and see.
“I wanted to respect those blokes, they’ve been great players. I always think it’s a great way if you can involve your players in that decision making and that we’re all on the same page.
“As it turned out, they were thinking the same thing that I was thinking and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Zorko said both Rich and Gunston underwent a tough training session over the weekend as the club strives to improve their fitness for the business end of the season.
“They worked pretty hard on Saturday morning alongside Hugh McCluggage and ‘Dizzy’ (Darcy) Gardiner who also missed through injury as well,” he added.
“They’re working really hard and this time away will obviously get them in the best shape possible and be erased to attack the back half of the season.”
With the omission of both Rich and Gunston, as well as the unavailability of injured duo McCluggage and Gardiner, it opened up opportunities to some younger players.
Father-son draftee Jaspa Fletcher made a promising debut of 13 disposals and one goal, while Kai Lohmann played his first senior game of the season and Deven Robertson played for the second successive week.
“He (Fletcher) was cramping a little bit late, but he was fantastic,” Zorko said of his emerging colleague.
“You don’t want too much more out of a debutant. His running goal and he had other opportunities to score as well.
“His running capabilities and powers are phenomenal. He’s going to have such a bright future in our game.
“Kai Lohmann came in as well. He’s been absolutely dominating in the VFL this year. He did some really nice things.
“Deven Robertson played last week as well, but he was a lot better for the run this week. I felt like he around the ball looked really comfortable and that’s a really good sign for ‘Dev’.
“All three that have come in were magnificent and Darcy Fort who came into replace Jack up forward to give us a little bit more height, he did his job as well.”
Zorko himself did not play in the weekend’s hard-fought 16-point win over Sydney, saying he “pulled a little bit lame” after training earlier in the week.
He is expecting to return for Friday night’s meeting with St Kilda at Marvel Stadium.