All the news from Port Adelaide training as Zak Butters extends contract by two years

Fresh off signing a two-year contract extension, Port Adelaide gun Zak Butters had his say on all the talk about the club making a move to the VFL. Plus, all the latest from the track.

The new “big boys” have already won Zak Butters over.

Having battled for ruck and key defensive support in the past couple of years, the Power superstar was taken with the size of new faces out on the track as the full squad returned to training on Monday.

New defender Esava Ratugolea got involved in the action at training, while the Power also added fellow back Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and rucks Jordon Sweet and Ivan Soldo in a huge trade period.

Esava Ratugolea trains at Alberton Oval for the first time. Picture: Keryn Stevens

“It’s definitely exciting, there are some big boys out there,” Butters said.

“I felt they fit what we needed really well and they will complement the group really well and they are not just good players but good people as well and I think that’s what the club has been really good at recruiting.

“It is nice to have a few ruckmen and a few key defenders and I am sure they will make an impact.”

Butters, as usual, was in the thick of the action and he bounced off tough onballer Willem Drew, who has become a training sparring partner in recent seasons.

“I think Willem Drew always comes back ready to go and is a fierce competitor, I love training with him,” Butters said.

“The draftees showed some good things as well, they are quick little buggers.”

Port Adelaide star Zak Butters at training on Monday. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Aliir Aliir was all smiles. Picture: Keryn Stevens

While the players have been getting ready for a long pre-season, much of the talk around Alberton has centred on the club’s future in the SANFL after it was revealed Port Adelaide is keen to join the VFL in 2025.

Butters backed the club in on its push for its reserves-level team to be playing against AFL seconds sides more often.

“At the end of the day we want premierships at AFL level and to make our AFL players better and if that way if that path (VFL) to help develop our younger players and help those players who struggle to play AFL, that is probably the best for the club,” he said.

“I think if it (a national reserves competition) is going to make the AFL top level a better standard than it seems to be the way of the future.”

Butters expects Rozee’s signature to follow

Port Adelaide star Zak Butters expects his running mate Connor Rozee to follow him soon by locking in a new contract at the Power.

Butters, 23, has inked a two-year extension, which extends his contract until the end of 2026, clearing him from a list of crucial Power players heading into the final year of their deals.

The added two years should take Butters to restricted free agency, where he could command a monster deal potentially unlike any seen by an Adelaide-based player.

His new deal will take in rising salaries agreed to in the recent collective bargaining agreement between the players and the AFL.

Zak Butters on the track after signing a two-year contract extension. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Rozee is the next biggest signing to take care of at Alberton, and Butters said his mate could be moving steadily towards his own extension.

“I am sure Connor is in a similar boat with his management and the footy club as well. He is an Adelaide boy so I don’t think he will be going anywhere anytime soon,” Butters said.

“He loves the place … I think he is pretty settled.”

The dynamic midfield pair have spoken regularly about where Port Adelaide is headed, and with young gun Jason Horne-Francis locked in until the end of 2028, the Power could boast the game’s best midfield trio over the next half-decade.

Other key players out of contract at Port Adelaide by the end of next season include Aliir Aliir, Todd Marshall, Willem Drew and young tall Ollie Lord.

Butters, who grew up in Bacchus Marsh just outside of Melbourne, said he hadn’t given any thought to returning to play in Victoria.

From: Zak
To: You
💌 pic.twitter.com/QpcS6HSSds

— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) December 4, 2023

The hard-edged midfielder scooped up a club best-and-fairest, was voted the most courageous player in the game by his peers and named the best player of 2023 by the coaches in a career-best year.

Should his form hold, he could command a giant deal when his contract ends and with him at the peak of how powers at 26 years of age.

Before then, Butters wants team success, after three top-four finishes but no grand final appearances in his time at the Power.

“We’ve got to keep showing up and getting better. You see with the good teams, like Brisbane the last couple of years and before that Geelong, they just keep showing up and eventually they get the chance,” he said.

“I feel like the footy club will just try to get better and I feel like the boys have shown that.

“It’s pretty cliche but everyone has come back in good nick and they are training at a high level.”

Originally published as All the news from Port Adelaide training as Zak Butters extends contract by two years