Dayne Zorko knows he's not every AFL fan's cup of tea, but that isn't stopping the Brisbane Lions veteran from being the usual "fighter" he is ahead of Saturday night's preliminary final against Carlton.
Zorko believes his role as the "competitor", which has given him his fiery edge, has been shaped by the club's on-field struggles earlier in his career.
"I probably know I'm not the number one favourite in a lot of supporter groups, or teams, to be honest with you," Zorko told Nine's Footy Classified on Wednesday night.
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"But I'm just a competitor, I just want to win."
The 34-year-old is not taking anything for granted, using the pain of excessive losses as his motivation as the Lions venture deep into another finals campaign.
"Early on in my career, I didn't see a lot of winning, at all. My first 100 games, I don't know what the strike rate was, but it wasn't great," he said.
Zorko has been in the spotlight throughout his career for being both the perpetrator and the victim of niggling behaviour, something he believes is a big part of his personality and his role within the Lions.
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Most recently, he was on the receiving end of a push from Port Adelaide midfielder Zak Butters in the Lions' 48-point win over the Power in the qualifying final.
Before that, he publicly expressed his disappointment in the league's process of sanctioning Gold Coast Suns captain Touk Miller after he allegedly grabbed the Lions' groin region in August.
Zorko also copped a one-match ban after appearing to make contact with Adelaide youngster Luke Pedlar's eye in the aftermath of a dangerous tackle.
"At times, I can certainly go over the line, there's no doubt about that. And … get held for my actions and certainly take full accountability for that," Zorko said.
"But it drives that fire inside of me to better and try and urge my team to win."
As for the criticism and media attention he regularly receives, Zorko refuses to change his game style to suit external opinion.
"I was just sick and tired of losing. I'm a competitor. I want to go out there and win as much as I can. I think we all want to win," Zorko said.
"Certainly wouldn't change the way I go about it. There's things and situations I could've handled a lot better, but it's just the fighter in me, I don't want to lose."
The Lions host Carlton at the Gabba in the second preliminary final on Saturday night.
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