"I think they've overpaid." | First Thoughts - Zak Butters to the Dogs (14.09.26)
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What sparked the discussion about Zak Butters joining the Western Bulldogs?
and
King. Fire!
All right, you listen to Fireball. Time to fire up the discussion. And Tom Morris, we said, get him in. Like we're gonna talk about Zach Butters. He's got some info. Welcome to you, Turkey.
G'day Kane, good day, Kingy. Good to see you both time. Good day at the NFL. Sorry? Good day at the NFL. Great day at the NFL. I couldn't see the game because we're sitting in level one MCC, which was disappointing. It was good
to catch up with you. Didn't see you there. No, you didn't we chatted. No, no, it didn't
happen. Anyway. Let's talk about Zach Butters. Um, where would you like to start?
I just think chronologically, let's lay out a timeline at how this played out. So let's start in mid-August. At this time, Geelong believed they had him. Geelong had essentially been told that Butters was going there. So his management. Right. And the That wouldn't have gone down well. And the dogs had essentially been told you're second. So the dogs had one or two out of ten confidence at this point that there would be a change of heart, and Geelong's just believe th this was as good a d as close to a done deal as it possibly could be without being a complete done deal.
How did the timeline of negotiations between Geelong, Richmond and the Bulldogs unfold?
Uh Not that I'm certain of. Only that's when the reports came out that Geelong were ahead. Because there was reasons behind that, because Geelong were told they were far ahead and the dogs were told that they were second. And then Richmond was third. So that was it. Nothing was confirmed, but the cats believed they had him and the dogs believed they didn't. Now in August 24, Luke Beverage went on AFL three sixty and said, You're always working out what we can do. Have you spent Everything you can. At this point, the dogs, as I said, were two out of ten confident. In the forty eight hours after that, the dogs increased their offer. So between August 24 and August 26, the dogs' offer jumped. This was later accurately reported by Sammy Edmond.
Now Geelong and Richmond believe this jump was significant. Up to three million dollars across the life of the deal is what they believe the jump the increase was. Job. Three million. Over ninety. Nine years. Yep, over nine years. And if it didn't put the dogs ahead of Richmond financially, it certainly stretched the gap by at least three and a half million between the dogs and the cats.
So Zach Butters' motivation has been nothing about winning or premierships, it's been money. No no, I wouldn't go that far. Well that's the decided hang on. Let me finish. Geelong are in front in August. Yep. Bulldogs come back with three mil and that changed his mind, so his motivation is money.
That's why I'm saying there's more to this now. Okay, okay, so so it was a last throw at the sums financially from the dogs, but they also tugged on the heartstrings of Butters one more time. They had one more big crack at him, and this was an all-club approach. I'm told the president was involved to a degree. The Western Bulldogs have a CEO and a footy boss that are former list managers. Their list manager, Michael Regan, used to work at Port Adelaide with Jason Cripps, so conversation. were going on there as well. They had one last crack at asking Zach Butters if he could live with the fact that if he didn't play for the Western Bulldogs and they won a flag, how that would sit with him. So this was in the end, in the end, it was a decision for the heart, but clearly the finances played a role as well.
Now the other element here is that Butters had a medical on Friday at the Western Bulldogs. That's When Peter Lenton, Butter's manager, told the Western Bulldogs that the decision had been made. Done a good job, Peter. Yep. He then waited until Geelong lost on Friday night to inform them on Saturday morning they'd missed out. So by the time the cats got on the plane home from Perth, they knew they'd missed out. That's how it played out. And clearly the financial turn of events played an important role, but the dogs weren't just relying on the money as well, they were relying on Their entire full court press from the entire club. They have been obsessed from a club perspective in getting Zach Butters in for twelve months and it reached a crescendo after August twenty fourth.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What sparked the discussion about Zak Butters joining the Western Bulldogs?
0:00–1:07
2
How did the timeline of negotiations between Geelong, Richmond and the Bulldogs unfold?
1:07–4:32
3
What was the impact of the Bulldogs' three‑million‑dollar offer on the deal?
4:32–5:42
4
Did money become Zak Butters' main motivation for signing with the Bulldogs?
5:42–6:52
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from SEN Breakfast
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The Monday Agenda (14.09.26)
SEN footy reporter Tom Morris (14.09.26)
First Thoughts - Finals Week 3 (14.09.26)
"Some panic crept in." | First Thoughts - Fremantle vs Geelong (14.09.26)
"I don't think they have enough match winners."| First Thoughts - Brisbane vs Adelaide (14.09.26)