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Liverpool vs Arsenal LIVE from 3amTrade Talk: Is Butters set to walk in 2026?
SEN • August 31st, 2025 11:48 am
Having played for Port Adelaide for the last seven years, is Zak Butters set to head back home to Victoria at the end of this season or next?
The midfielder only has 12 more months left on his contract with Port Adelaide, which has made him one of the big-name targets in the upcoming trade period.
Already, there has been plenty of interest from Victorian clubs, with Hawthorn being the latest club to try and get the two-time All-Australian and two-time John Cahill Medallist to their side.
And having averaged 28 disposals and 6.5 clearances this year, it’s easy to see why so many clubs are interested in his services.
However, Cornes has recommended that Port should do everything in their power to keep him for at least this year, to help give new coach Josh Carr the best start at the club.
“I think it would be a disaster for the new coach to lose your best player,” Cornes said on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“So, he’s under contract and I wouldn’t be letting him go yet if I was Josh Carr, just for the look of it.
“This time next year is a different story.”
When asked about whether Butters will end up leaving Port Adelaide by Sam Edmund, Cornes was somewhat resigned to it happening, believing that he will likely leave next year.
“Yeah, I think so,” Cornes lamented.
“That’s the feeling I get. Cause if he was going to stay, he’s never going to be worth more than he is right now.
“You’d take the Wanganeen-Milera offer, which was two and a half (million) for two years, reportedly. So that’s $5 million in the first two years and then $1.3 (million) for the next eight or nine.
“He could get that deal right now if he wanted to. He’s as good a prospect as Wanganeen-Milera for the next two years.
While there are many clubs interested in signing the 24-year-old, AFL.com.au’s Josh Gabelich is under the impression that it will likely be one of the two clubs that are located in the west of Victoria, given its proximity to his family, who live in Darley.
“There’s a strong pull of home,” Gabelich explained.
“It's been well documented about his family’s struggles. But he’s spent seven years away from Darley.
“I think if he was to choose to leave, whether it’s this year, but I expect it to be next year, it would be Geelong and the Western Bulldogs because of the proximity from where he’s from.”
Given that he will be a restricted free agent with the Power, should any offer come for him next season when he is out of contract, they will have the ability to match the offer.
