At this time last year, the Brisbane Lions struck a deal with the Gold Coast Suns that saw 22 year-old local product Dayne Zorko finally get his chance at an AFL career.
Zorko had been dominating the State League competition since he was a teenager, and might never have been exposed to the elite level had the Lions not pounced when they did.

It's been 12 months since, and the early indication is that his recruitment will prove a resounding success for the Club.

But Zorko isn’t the first player to have made an impact in the AFL after being overlooked on more than one occasion...and won’t be the last.

Lions Assistant Coach Adrian Fletcher believes the number of recent mature-age success stories has made clubs more inclined to offer ‘second chances’ to players from local leagues.

“You need to look everywhere,” Fletcher said.

“Sometimes there are blokes out there who missed the boat, but are natural footballers.”

“There are more Zorko’s out there.”

However, Fletcher also said that recruiting young talent remained a priority for clubs.
“It still makes sense for us to draft young players to the Club and develop them along with the ones we have already,” he said.

Zorko wasn’t the only player acquired during last year’s Trade Period that had been previously overlooked, with Steven Morris (Richmond), Jamie Elliott (Collingwood), Terry Milera (St Kilda) and Ahmed Saad (St Kilda) all finding new homes.