Butters’ star is rising but he hasn’t forgotten his old footy club

It was a star performance that received star praise.

“A tough, brave, little prick,” Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said of his 22-year-old midfielder, Zak Butters.

Zak Butters is making his mark in the game.Credit: Getty Images

Butters had dazzled in front of thousands at Adelaide Oval (41 touches, two goals), playing his best AFL game in his 79-game career, helping clinch a four-point victory over the Dees in the round-10 clash.

This masthead described his performance as “the finest game of his burgeoning career”.

A week later, after another victory against Richmond at the MCG , Butters was far from the bright lights of a stadium – out in Ballarat, running the water for his former local footy club.

The country boy, who grew up in Darley – a town an hour west of Melbourne – had gone to watch his former team play. Upon learning the team was down a runner, he volunteered for the task.

Zak Butters on the run against Jack Viney of the Demons.Credit: AFL Photos

“It can be my recovery,” Butters told Darley FC’s long-time secretary Lorissa Edwards when she initially objected.

Heath Scotland, the former Carlton and Collingwood midfielder who coached Butters when he played in Darley’s senior premiership-winning team in 2017, said: “I just found that really unique, and quite amazing, that a kid with all the future ahead of him, that instead of focusing on his own career and play AFL he just wanted to get back, and still be around his mates and his old club.”

That’s how many of those from Darley describe Butters. A hard-working, tough young man with strong ties to his home town, and someone who just really, really loves footy.

“He’s a real likeable person, cheeky but pleasant and always good for a laugh, very hard-working and respectful,” Travis Edwards, who coaches the team’s under-19s, said.

Butters enjoys the moment with Power fans.Credit: AFL Photos

And while Butters’ star is rising, his toughness on the field is old news for those who watched the youngster grow up. Scotland had heard about the talented kid always hanging around the club prior to taking up the coaching gig.

“That’s what really struck me immediately – he was a small kid, really, at that stage of his career he was playing with men, but was composed, very clean and had time, and just made excellent decisions with ball in hand,” Scotland said.

“He’s fierce, he’s competitive, he puts his body on the line and embraces the challenge.”

Selected at pick 12 by Port Adelaide in the 2018 draft, Butters was surprised when Port made the bid. The club hadn’t interviewed him in the lead-up to the draft. He later learnt it was a tactical move, to avoid other clubs learning of their interest in the midfielder.

Port legend Robbie Gray, who played 270 games and kicked 365 goals over his 16-year-career, had a lot to do with his drafting to the team. And after his retirement in August, he handed over his jersey number to Butters.

A country boy close to his family, Butters, at 18, struggled in his first year in Adelaide. But Hinkley, Gray and the club rallied around him, and he soon settled in.

There are frequent tales at Darley of the young boy who thrived and seemed to relish going head-to-head against the older men. And those tales ring true to those watching his playing style today.

Port teammate Connor Rozee said Butters set the standard for the team.

“He brings that intensity, not only in games, but in training. The coaches often have to tell him to slow down a couple steps because he’s cracking people that hard,” Rozee said in December on the Soda Room podcast.

But as Butters becomes the talk of the AFL town, Lorissa Edwards, Travis Edwards and Scotland are more impressed by his character than his skill.

“He’s just never forgotten his pathway, the club he’s come from, he’s always been humble. We just say, ‘he’s just the best’,” Lorissa Edwards said.

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