Hawthorn forward Sam Butler reveals gruesome details of leg break on comeback trail

Hawthorn forward Sam Butler has revealed the gruesome details behind his broken leg and how he’s been finding his feet during his rehabilitation.

Sam Butler kicks at goal while being tackled by Sam Docherty in July 2023. Picture: Michael Klein.

Hawthorn forward Sam Butler has detailed the gruesome injury that derailed his third season at the Hawks.

The 21 year old suffered a significant broken leg while playing for Box Hill against Sydney’s reserves, causing the third quarter to run for more than 66 minutes as medicos struggled to move the forward.

Butler, who was a guest speaker at Box Hill’s Hall of Fame induction lunch, said he couldn’t remember much of the incident that ended his campaign.

“Someone ran through my leg and I just heard a snap, and it wasn’t great, I looked behind me and my toes were touching my knee,” he said.

“It’s pretty grim, I’m over the worst of it now, the first two weeks of recovery was shocking, but over the worst of it now.”

Still walking with a limp, but out of the moon boot and rid of crutches, Butler spends his weekdays completing gym work and rehab, and his weekends on the sidelines as a quasi-assistant coach for Box Hill.

Sam Butler kicks at goal while being tackled by Sam Docherty in July 2023. Picture: Michael Klein.

The one-point win against Geelong on Sunday was the first time Butler was in the coaches box, with a late Finn Maginness goal putting the Hawks ahead of the Cats.

He said he was working towards “hopefully” a return to football in round 1 next season.

“Since I’ve done my injury I’ve just been trying to go into the club every day, be positive and doing a lot of cross-training, a lot of gym as well, that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing,” he said.

“I get to go to Noosa in a couple of weeks as a bit of a circuit-breaker since I’ll be out for a long time.

“Every day I’m getting better, but it’s about a 9-12 month injury, so hopefully I’m back round 1 next year.”

After 17 games in his first two seasons, Butler managed just two matches in 2024 and was dropped to Box Hill after the 53-point loss to Gold Coast in round 5.

The Hawks were second last on the ladder, 0-5 to start the season and staring down the barrel of a battle for the wooden spoon.

But Butler said coach Sam Mitchell, who he labelled as “a cheeky bugger” around the club, had set the club on a new path following the loss to the Suns.

“After the Gold Coast game, we were pretty average and I played in that and didn’t play great, a few hard truths after that game came out, and really set the tone for the rest of the season and where we want to be as a club,” he said.

“Then we went into some great form and won some good games and now we’re close to finals, so it’s very exciting for the club.”

Originally published as Hawthorn forward Sam Butler reveals gruesome details of leg break on comeback trail