BRISBANE captain Dayne Zorko concedes he 'needs to be a better leader' as he apologised publicly for an "inappropriate comment" he made to Melbourne defender Harrison Petty on Friday night.
An emotional Petty was surrounded by teammates at three-quarter time at the Gabba after what Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said was an inappropriate remark about a family member.
Zorko was confronted on the full-time siren by a host of Demons, led by full-back Steven May, before he went over to Petty for a long conversation.
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On Saturday, the Lions said they had investigated the incident and that their skipper conceded his comments crossed a line.
"I have apologised to Harrison for the inappropriate comment I made to him last night," Zorko said in a statement.
"I'm remorseful for my actions and take full responsibility for the hurt caused to Harrison, his family and the Melbourne Football Club.
"In reflection, I understand I need to be a better leader, and have spoken with the Club who have reinforced this."
The incident was handed over the AFL to be investigated but on Saturday morning, Melbourne's general manager of AFL football performance, Alan Richardson, indicated both the club and Petty were happy to move forward.
"I've spoken to the AFL, my understanding is they're pretty comfortable with where it sits," Richardson told SEN.
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"I can't speak for them but that's certainly the tone that I got based on the fact that Dayne apologised and Harrison Petty is really comfortable with where it sits.
"As a footy club, we're comfortable with where it sits now too.
"They've been really quite sincere in their apology, that's not the sort of behaviour they want from their players, they were really impressive yesterday in terms of taking the issue seriously."
On Friday night, Goodwin did not reveal the exact nature of what was said, only that Zorko's comment referenced a member of Petty's family.
"'Petts' thought he heard something inappropriate about a family member, he was a bit upset about it," Goodwin said.
"The Lions have spoken to us and obviously the AFL will look at it, but that's pretty much the details we can give at the moment. We're going to hand it over to the AFL.
"'Petts' was a bit emotional at three-quarter time, he went away, re-set himself and came back into the game."
"Brisbane have been quite apologetic towards us, and that's the type of footy club they are. They're a very respected, humble footy club and we'll take them at their word."
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said the Lions would also investigate the incident.
"I can't really shed any light on it for you because I'd just be making it up and I don't want to do that," Fagan said.
"It would concern me that any of our players got caught up in an incident like that, but I won't judge just yet because I don't know enough about it."
