SEEING Connor Rozee earn All-Australian honours last year inspired Zak Butters’ rise in 2023 but despite winning numerous league awards on Wednesday night, the hard nut midfielder says he has unfinished business.
Butters earned a maiden All-Australian blazer to go with the AFLPA’s Robert Rose Most Courageous Player Award and the AFL Coaches’ Association’s Champion Player Award.
The 22-year-old was particularly honoured to have been named the best player in the competition as voted by the coaches, having polled votes in 16 of the 23 matches including maximum votes in seven rounds.
He edged Western Bulldogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli and young Collingwood star Nick Daicos to win the award.
“It’s definitely an honour, especially to come from the coaches,” Butters said in the aftermath. “They probably see the game better than anyone each week.
“To see how your coaches view your games and vote for you through the year, it’s a great award, and I’m pretty lucky to be part of a healthy and good list.”
While much of Butters’ rise can be attributed to having some luck avoiding injuries and playing his first full season in the midfield, the skilful on-baller attributed his rise to hard work, being driven by his coaches and the inspiration he drew from teammates and opponents alike.
“I think I’ve been working hard for a number of years now. I’ve put in the time and the addition of (midfield coach) Josh Carr really helped me, and then (senior coach) Kenny (Hinkley) as well.
“I probably took some inspiration off Connor Rozee and his season last year and the guys in the league like Caleb Serong and Andy Brayshaw as well, who really broke out and became superstars of the competition so I took inspiration off them as well.”
Butters came to Port Adelaide as part of the famed 2018 AFL National Draft that saw Rozee and Xavier Duursma also land at Alberton.
The trio are almost always mentioned in the same breath, and Butters said they had formed a close bond and challenged each other to get better each day.
“It definitely made the transition easier and the move over to Adelaide easier as well,” he explained.
“We’ve got a really tight-knit group and we challenge each other and try to make each other improve.
“I just love going to the club every day and working with those boys, and the rest of my teammates as well.”
Nobody was smiling more to see Rozee claim his second All-Australian blazer than Butters, and his grin only grew with fellow teammate Dan Houston earning All-Australian honours for the first time.
It’s the first time since 2020 that Port Adelaide has had three players make the final side, and a great recognition of the impact those players have had on the season so far.
And they will need to continue to drive the club as it heads into the AFL finals.
Butters admitted going down in consecutive preliminary finals in 2020 and 2021, and then missing finals all together last season had made the group more resolute this time around.
“Missing out last year after having a few close ones, it’s good to be back there. There’s a real buzz around the club and a few boys haven’t played finals before with a few older guys really hunting that flag so it’s an exciting time,” he smiled.
“I’ve been lucky enough to play in a few finals and haven’t quite got there yet. There’s definitely that burning edge there and I know the rest of the playing group is really excited.
“As a playing group, I just feel like since my time at the club we’re probably the most connected and have a really good group – a good mix of older guys and younger guys, and guys in the middle who’ve stood up and taken their game to the next level as well.
“I’m really excited to get to the Gabba and hopefully do something special there as well.”
