From the absurd and ridiculous file… Zane Zakostelsky will become the first player with the initials “ZZ” to play in the AFL on Saturday night.
It’s the answer to a question that Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan posed as he announced the debut of the 20-year-old ruck/defender to his players on Thursday.
“I’m not sure if there’s ever been a ‘ZZ’ play in the AFL,” Fagan said.
Now he knows. And he knows that Zakostelsky will be the 24th “Z” among what was 13,272 AFL players to the end of 2025 as he debuts against the Western Bulldogs at the Gabba.
Pick #51 in the 2024 AFL National Draft from WAFL club Claremont, he’ll debut alongside the greatest “Z” in AFL history – Dayne Zorko – who leads all key statistics for “Z” players with 304 games, 237 goals, 111 Brownlow Medal votes and two premiership medals.
Also from the absurd file, Zorko will go into the 2026 season looking to add still further to his remarkable career record.
A fourth consecutive grand final would equal the record of Eric Zschech, a 102-game Richmond centreman from the tiny Wimmera town of Munyip in regional Victoria who played in the premiership decider in 1931-32-33-34 for wins in 1932-34.
Zakostelsky, who will wear the #21 jumper worn most famously for Brisbane by 200-gamer Daniel Merrett, will be the third Brisbane “Z” after Zorko and Mark Zanotti, who played 64 games with the Bears from 1989-92 after 36 games at West Coast (1987-88) and before 57 games with Fitzroy (1993-95).
The athletic Zakostelsky, also an outstanding junior basketball player, was identified as an AFL player in the making when best afield in the WAFL Under 18 grand final in 2023 and tested strongly at the AFL Draft Combine.
Having broken a 40-year long jump record at his high school a few years earlier, he topped the standing vertical leap (80cm), was fifth in the agility test (8.233) and sixth in both the 20m sprint (2.954) and running vertical jump (94).
It was a meteoric rise from the North Beach junior, who had been cut from the Claremont Colts squad in 2022 and missed selection at the start of his draft year.
"That was a bit of a wake-up call to work on my skills," Zakostelsky told AFL.com.au ahead of the 2023 AFL Draft, having been told at the time to work on his fundamentals and his game sense.
"I was new to footy, and in some ways it was just about being more of an athlete than a footy player. I could barely hit a target with my kicking.
"But I did have aspirations to be on an AFL list one day, so it was a wake-up call to work on my skills and I took any little opportunity I got to stay after training, do extra drills, or just little things as simple as working on my ball drop.
"I started watching a lot of footy every weekend and I tried to get a feel for the game, but that also comes with time, and game time out on the field," he said.
"Every chance I got to watch AFL games on TV, or re-watch games, I did, and I'd go down to watch WAFL league games. Any bit of footy I could watch just to get that sense for it.
"I knew I was too short to be a ruck at AFL level, which is where I'd played for North Beach, so I watched a lot of key forwards and key defenders."
Zakostelsky was the third of four Brisbane picks in the 2023 Draft after they took Logan Morris from the Western Jets at #31 and Luke Lloyd from the Sandringham Dragons at #42, and before taking Reece Torrent from Peel Thunder at #64.
Fitzroy had four members of the “Z” family – Zanotti, 71-game centre half back Noel Zunneberg, who topped the club count in the 1970 Brownlow Medal with 12 votes, Bruno Zorzi, who died in January aged 88, and World War One one-gamer Cyril Zimmer.
The full “Z” family in the AFL in game order is:
304 – Dayne Zorko – Bris – 2012-25
280 – Jack Ziebell – NM – 2009-23
226 – David Zaharakis – Ess - 2009-21
157 – Mark Zanotti - WC-Bris-Fitz – 1987-95
149 – Shane Zantuck - NM-Syd-Melb – 1974-86
143 – Cam Zurhaar – NM – 2017-25
110 – Denis Zeunert – Carl – 1954-60
102 – Eric Zschech – Rich – 1930-35
90 – Brandon Zerk-Thatcher – Ess-Port – 2019-25
77 – Ty Zantuck – Rich-Ess -2000-05
71 – Noel Zunneberg – Fitz – 1967-72
64 – Murray Zeuschner – WB – 1962-67
18 – Trevor Zeltner – WB – 1970-72
18 – Bruno Zorzi – Fitz -1957-60
14 – Jack Zander – Haw – 1933-37
14 – Denis Zanoni – Geel – 1960-62
14 – Jack Zimmerman – WB – 1937-39
13 – Charlie Zinnick – Ess-WB – 1921-25
12 – Peter Zychia – Geel – 1982-85
8 – Michael Zemski – Haw – 1973-74
3 – Owen Zinko – Melb – 1963-64
3 – Harold Zucker – Haw – 1942
1 – Cyril Zimmer – Fitz – 1918
