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Sweet 16! ‘Grateful’ Lions veteran to play on after star’s tough ‘50-50 call’ Already buoyed by Zac Bailey’s decision to commit to the club long-term, the Lions have received a further boost ahead of their do-or-die finals battle with Adelaide on Saturday, with stalwart Dayne Zorko signing a new one-year deal. Watch every match of the 2026 Toyota AFL Finals Series before the Grand Final LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. The Lions announced on Thursday that Zorko, who turns 38 in February, would play on for a 16th season. “With others re-signing, it’s a really exciting time for the club and I’m very happy and grateful to be given the opportunity to continue into a 16th season,” he said. “The goal for all of us is to keep driving towards premiership success, and I want to keep helping this group on that journey in any way I can.” The news came hot on the heels of Tuesday’s news that two-time All-Australian Bailey had rejected a $10m offer from the Crows to sign a new eight-year contract with Brisbane. Bailey admitted it had been a tough “50-50” call on whether he would remain with the Lions or go to Adelaide. “There was interest there (from the Crows) and something that I had to consider, but I just love it here so much, and I really wanted to get a deal done here,” he said. “These things just take a little bit of time … but for me, there was no real rush. I was just going to take things at my own pace. “For the first half of the year, I didn’t even really deal with it at all. I just wanted to go out there and play good footy, and that’s what I was doing. “I see some people how they handle their contract years – some people go one way and perform really well, and some will go the other way. “This year I’ve been able to perform to a really high standard, which has been good. “It’s now on me to make sure I keep trying to improve and take my game to another level. There’s a lot of trust in me to perform, so now it’s on me.” Bailey was also thrilled about Zorko extending his career by at least another years, saying he had “modelled” his game off the former Brisbane skipper. “He has been unbelievable,” Bailey said of Zorko. “I was able to learn a lot off him. He took over the captaincy of this club when we really needed someone to stand up, and he had a massive impact on this club and has been a leader for a lot of our young guys coming through. “He’s had an enormous impact on this club.” After the disappointment of last weekend’s heavy loss to Sydney, the Lions must win on Saturday at the Gabba to keep their dreams alive of a third successive flag. “It just goes to show in this game, if your mindset isn’t right, you’re very vulnerable,” Zorko said. “We had a really stern review, and the energy that we saw at training on Tuesday was really what it should be like.” The Lions are likely to be forced into at least one change, with defender Noah Answerth not training on Thursday after suffering an ankle injury in Brisbane’s loss to the Swans.