Zak Butters State of Play - The Late Trade - Day 5 (29.09.26)
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How did Zak Butters’ move from Port Adelaide to the Western Bulldogs take shape?
We're going to start today, Jono, by taking a deep look at the Zach Butters situation. He is the biggest name in this trade period, the free agent, the restricted free agent, choosing to leave Port Adelaide and nominating the Western Bulldogs as his club of choice. We're going to come at it from a couple of different angles. I'll just go back to the week leading into the semi-final at which the Geelong Footy Club was playing first. Fremantle in Perth. So week two of the traditional structure of the final series. And it was the Thursday night of that particular week where people at Geelong, including Chris Scott himself, had very strong reason to believe that Zach Butters was going to be nominating the Cats as his club of choice.
Time line on this, Thursday before the Cats played the Dockers in that year's semi-final. And they had very good reason to believe that. There was correspondence from Zach himself, others around him. It had reached and clearly had some of the correspondence involved, Chris Scott. So they were pretty comfortable with how that was looking. Weren't focused on that fully, given they had a game of football to play the next night. They played that game of footy. They lost it. It was a great game of footy. They were very gallant. Could have... Played well. On the game, despite the odds being well and truly against it. But were then left to mop up the season finishing in the semi-final rounds of the final series.
They wake up Saturday morning, wallowing in that loss, working out what they do, and then find out through media reporting that Zach Butters hadn't announced the Western Bulldogs as his club of choice. And they had no line of sight on that being made public at that point in time. Yep. The last correspondence they'd had with people with Zach and around Zach was that he was going to be nominating Geelong. So that was a jolt to them, obviously, and no one expects and Geelong doesn't want sympathy for that being the case. But that was the backdrop to it. So... You then work out a few things.
Why did Port Adelaide prefer negotiating Butters’ move with the Bulldogs over Geelong?
Port Adelaide just didn't want to deal with Geelong, and he is a restricted free agent. I'll get you to explain that to the layperson, what that means in a moment. But Port Adelaide had been saying all year they're going to match whatever bid is made for Zach Butters. But equally, we also know, too, that they were happy to deal with a club of their reckoning. And the club that they wanted to deal with was the Western Bulldogs. It clearly influenced Zach's decision to...
Oh, I think that was important to Zach as well. in regards to that
side
of the arrangement because when a club has given you so much and you've given so much to a footy club, you want the end to be as positive as you possibly can for both parties. Yes, the winner of the club that you're going to select plus what you can get your club that supported you and you've supported for a long period of time.
Even though you're a free agent and you can go wherever you want. Yeah. So we'll get to this in one. There's one more thing I just want to say about this. And do not underestimate the ill will between Port Adelaide and Geelong that can and is traced back to July of 2012. Wow.
What
happened in July of 2012? Do not underestimate the ill will that has long been had since that day when Chris Scott, Jimmy Bartell,
Got on the plane.
Joel Selwood flew in. I do remember this. To go and speak with Travis Boak about joining the Geelong Footy Club. And the July 2012 timeline, just to remind people, was six months after Geelong had won its third flag in that particular era. And they had Chris Scott, Jimmy Bartell, Joel Selwood flying in. not even under the cover of darkness, just on a bright, sunny Sunday afternoon to speak to Travis Boak. That changed the dynamic
of this whole trading period.
There is an element of that ill will that is still part of this decision that Port Adelaide was desperate to deal with the Western Bulldogs and not Geelong on Zach Bartos. And Zach was well aware of that in the overall scheme of
things. It's not a bad conversation to have with Travis Boak at the time because his history at Torquay Football Club is enormous, enormous with his family and his dad.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Zak Butters’ move from Port Adelaide to the Western Bulldogs take shape?
0:00–1:45
2
Why did Port Adelaide prefer negotiating Butters’ move with the Bulldogs over Geelong?
1:45–4:03
3
When must Zak Butters’ free-agency offer be lodged, and how long can Port Adelaide match it?
4:03–5:33
4
What AFL rules limit side deals in Zak Butters’ free-agency move?
5:33–7:12
5
Why could Zak Butters’ free-agency paperwork be delayed until later in October?
7:12–8:57
6
Could Leith Vandermeer or Todd Marshall become part of the Butters trade?
8:57–11:07
7
Why might the Bulldogs delay lodging their offer for Zak Butters?
11:07–12:29
8
How could Port Adelaide use Butters compensation picks to secure father-son prospects?
12:29–14:40
Speakers
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