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What was said? Zorko lifts the lid on ‘heated exchange’ with Fagan
Andrew Slevison • April 22nd, 2025 12:58 pm
Dayne Zorko has explained what was said between he and Chris Fagan last Thursday night.
The Lions veteran and his Brisbane Lions coach swapped words in what appeared to be an intense disagreement during the club’s 52-point loss to Collingwood at the Gabba.
Zorko admitted his frustration after a few decisions went against him resulting in a free kick for dissent, before an error led to a Magpies goal in the third quarter.
He came off the ground moments later and was involved in what was reported as a ‘heated exchange’, but Zorko insists it was nothing of the sort.
“It happens all the time between me and ‘Fages’,” Zorko said on SENQ Breakfast.
“Our relationship is really strong, we’re very open as to what we say to each other to get a result that the team needs.
“I reckon there were only a few words exchanged between the both of us. He said, ‘Just don’t let your emotions get involved here’, and I said, ‘I didn’t swear’, and that was it.
“It obviously gets blown up a lot more being a Thursday night, there’s a lot more cameras. I was disappointed in the way we were all performing, he could sense that frustration and just said, ‘You need to calm down and catch your breath’. It was no more than that.
“It’s pretty disappointing that it does get blown up like that. Obviously they don’t have the ability of microphones, all they see is just two reactions.
“Me and Fages have had 500 times worse blowups that have never been caught. We were actually quite surprised on just how much coverage it did get because it was one of the more controlled conversations we’ve ever had.
“We’re all good.”
In fact, Zorko praised Fagan for his ability to handle the situation so calmly after building a very strong relationship with his players over the years.
He does truly believe that the incident was overplayed in the aftermath.
“There were a couple of decisions that clearly didn’t go my way or the team’s way. The frustration had built up in that,” Zorko added.
“He understands me so well that he knew exactly how I was feeling.
“For him to break that line was for him to come up and say what he needed to say, which was totally fine, he didn’t do it in an angry way. Nor was my rebuttal.
“It looks like a really angry rebuttal or it looks like he was fired up. But he knew what needed to be broken, my line of communication needed to be broken.
“That’s fantastic relationship building if anything. He knows exactly what he needs to do for his player. We’ve built that relationship over the years.
“It’s just always disappointing that that stuff gets blown out of proportion. We kissed and made up, and that was about it, we’re on to this week.”
The Lions will be intent on recoiling from their season-first loss to the Pies when they meet St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
