“Yep,” he said when asked if he thought he was playing well enough to earn a new deal.

“Hopefully[list manager] Dom Ambrogio and the rest of the footy department sees that.

“Yes and no[there’s been discussions] ... obviously I’d love to play for as long as possible in a team that’s in a really good position.

“I got into the system a little bit later,as Fages tells me,hopefully means at the back end I can play a little bit more.

“We’ve got such a great young group of kids coming through ... me stepping in when I need to[as a mentor] has been something I tried to add.”

Brisbane trained behind closed doors on Thursday morning,Zorko saying key defender Jack Payne (ankle) looked to have improved from Tuesday when he only completed a light run.

“[He looked] pretty good;he ran today,I just had a shower with him,probably too much information,but he seemed pretty good,” Zorko offered.

“Payney’s always a difficult character to read,but from his expressions he seemed pretty happy and optimistic.”

Veteran defender Darcy Gardiner shapes as the man most likely to replace Payne in the back six,although Darragh Joyce is also an option.

Zorko has been impressed with the Blues’ late-season tweaks at both ends of the ground that have powered them to 11 wins from their last 12 games.

But he is confident Brisbane’s strong form and finals experience – Saturday will be a third preliminary final in the last four years – has them well prepared.

“All those experiences and defeats over four or so years will hopefully program into everyone’s head what not to do and we’ll get the result,” he said.

-AAP