Brisbane must move Dayne Zorko to defence in order to revitalise their ball movement off half-back.
That is according to former Lion Luke Hodge who says injuries to Keidean Coleman and Conor McKenna have made it an absolute must for Zorko to return to defence.
The club’s former captain shifted from the forward line to the backline for the second half of their eventual 23-point loss to Fremantle, making an immediate impact despite the defeat.
It is something that AFL great Hodge believes should occur again given Zorko’s ability to penetrate with his kicking out of defensive 50.
“I loved him playing there at the start of last year. They threw a few people around and ended up putting him back at half-forward,” Hodge said on SEN’s Sportsday.
“For someone who can break the line, his kicking is as good as anyone.
“I know ‘Kiddy’ Coleman is good with his touch but Zorko has got penetration. They love him kicking the ball to their forwards. With Kiddy and now Conor out, I think it’s a must. Put him back there.
“He might give up two or three goals as a defender because he’s not used to defending in those positions, but what he can give on the offensive end (is important). Their ball movement on Sunday looked shocking.
“So throw him back there, give him an opportunity to create, do what he does best and make the game exciting.”
Zorko finished the game with 21 disposals, eight marks, four tackles, four inside 50s, four rebound 50s and one goal as the Lions fell to a second straight loss to start 2024.
Having spent two seasons with the Lions, Hodge knows first-hand what coach Chris Fagan would be attempting to do to arrest their 0-2 beginning to the season.
He knows that Fagan will be reviewing everything they’ve done so far in 2024 in order to right the wrongs of the first two rounds and get things back on track after their bye.
“What I do know that the Lions will be doing, and Chris Fagan has done it ever since he started there, is whenever there’s a little break he’ll sit down and review the games they’ve played,” Hodge added.
“He’ll come up with trends that they’ve been good at and if they haven’t been great in those games prior, he’ll look at trends they’ve been terrible at and put in a plan to hopefully change that for the next few games coming up.
“I reckon there’ll be a fair few things that he’d want to change after what they’ve produced the last couple of weeks.”
The Lions have a week off before hosting Collingwood at the Gabba on Easter Thursday in a reprise of last year’s Grand Final.