Ex-Port skipper Tom Jonas talks what makes Connor Rozee and Zak Butters the perfect pair
There was a changing of the guard at the Power after 2023, with new faces assuming command of the leadership group. Their predecessor says the club couldn’t be in better hands.
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Former Port Adelaide skipper Tom Jonas says Connor Rozee and Zak Butters have become outstanding young leaders in their first seasons in their respective roles.
Port announced in December that Rozee, 24, would succeed Jonas as captain with Butters, 23, as his deputy.
Jonas, who retired at the end of last season after 216 games with the Power and led the team for five years, was asked for his view by coach Ken Hinkley before the club decided on the new leadership group.
The ex-skipper told this masthead the duo – both All-Australians who were drafted together in 2018 – were very different.
“Zak is so passionate, caring and selfless off the field, and just really raw,” Jonas said.
“Connor is a bit more mature and ready for the role, and he’s played more sustained high quality football.
“He has a great support system in South Australia and is a well-rounded leader.
“They’re both outstanding young leaders in their own way.”
Jonas’s main advice to the star on-ballers when they were appointed was “something I probably lived when I took over the captaincy – be yourself”.
“I probably spent my first season trying to be a bit like (predecessor) Travis (Boak), but the reality was we lead differently,” he said.
“So to them it’s let your footy do the talking, but don’t change.
“Just grow.”
One of the most obvious contrasts between Rozee and Butters is their on-field demeanour.
Butters is a heart-on-his-sleeve player who regularly chirps at opponents, passionately celebrates goals and his combative approach has led to him receiving more fines than any footballer in AFL history.
Rozee looks more cool, calm and collected from the outside.
“Sometimes that’s to the detriment of a leader,” Jonas said.
“You see when he hurt his hamstring in the Crows game, half the footage was then panning to Connor on the boundary, and maybe he wasn’t outwardly emotional, but that doesn’t mean people don’t care.
“Someone like Justin Westhoff was a whipping boy for pundits for half of his career.
“This was a guy (Westhoff) who would do literally anything for the team, worked as hard as anyone in the group – his GPS on a game day would be the biggest in a game – but people would be commenting about Justin Westhoff looking like he’s not caring.
“That was one of his strengths, that composure, and it’s the same with Connor.”
Rozee and Butters are part of a star-studded Power midfield that includes fellow first-year leadership group member Willem Drew, Jonas’s former co-captain Ollie Wines and emerging on-baller Jason Horne-Francis.
Jonas said Horne-Francis’s development had impressed him since the 2021 No. 1 draft pick arrived from North Melbourne two trade periods ago and he had the traits of a possible future captain.
Horne-Francis, 21, is having a career-best campaign, averaging 21.4 disposals and kicking 18 goals from 17 matches.
“I think you’ll see Jason Horne-Francis come on in leaps and bounds in that (leadership) space,” Jonas said.
“He’s got the capacity to lead Port Adelaide down the track.
“Probably more in the (Patrick) Dangerfield mould.”
Originally published as Ex-Port skipper Tom Jonas talks what makes Connor Rozee and Zak Butters the perfect pair
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