ZAK BUTTERS will on Friday night become the 55th player to reach 100 AFL games for Port Adelaide.
The dynamic midfielder was elevated into the club’s leadership group ahead of this season, becoming vice-captain to good friend Connor Rozee.
Still just 23-years-old, Butters can already lay claim to being one of the best midfielders in the competition, taking home his first All-Australian blazer last season to go with his John Cahill Medal as club best and fairest and AFL Coaches’ Association Player of the Year Award.
Here are some numbers to help you impress your friends about Butters’ career so far:
12 – Butters was taken at pick 12 from the Western Jets in the 2018 AFL National Draft. That year saw Port Adelaide also Connor Rozee (pick 5), Xavier Duursma (pick 18), Riley Grundy (pick 73), and Boyd Woodcock (pick 76) in the main draft, along with Tobin Cox, Martin Frederick and Kai Pudney as rookies.
181 – Butters is 181cm tall. He is also the 181st player to represent Port Adelaide at AFL level, after making his debut in a 26-point win over Melbourne at the MCG. That day he had 13 disposals and booted three goals, and joined fellow debutants Connor Rozee, Willem Drew, Xavier Duursma, and club debutants Scott Lycett and Ryan Burton in the middle of the team song after the game.
61.62 – Butters’ winning percentage in his 99 games. He has won 61 and lost 38 games in that time with the 17-win, eight-loss season of 2023 his best.
58 – Butters has booted 58 goals in his 99 games so far, ranking him 41st in goals in the AFL for Port Adelaide as one of just 51 players to have kicked more than 50 majors for the club in the AFL. His best individual game haul is three goals in a win over Essendon in Round 22, 2022 while his best tally for a season is the 13 he booted in 25 games in 2023.
9 – Butters wears the number nine on his back, having shifted to the number when his mentor Robbie Gray offered it to him after his retirement at the end of 2022. Butters had previously worn the number 18 guernsey in 68 games between 2019-2022.
33 – Butters has polled 33 Brownlow Medal votes across his first five seasons of AFL football. He polled 27 of those votes in 2023 when he finished equal fourth behind eventual winner Lachie Neale (31 votes). He has polled the maximum three votes in eight games.
19 – Butters played 19 games in his debut season. Also, the number of disposals he had in his one and only match at Jiangwan Stadium in Shanghai – coincidentally against this week’s opponent St Kilda.
4 – Butters has played against this week’s opponent St Kilda four times for three wins and one loss. His only loss came in a 29-point defeat to the Saints in Round 8, 2020. He has played Richmond on ten occasions, more than he has played against any other side (Geelong is next at eight).
24.57 – Butters averages 24.57 disposals against Essendon, more than he averages against any other team. His lowest average disposals is against Gold Coast with 16.33 disposals per game.
53 – Butters has played 53 times at the venue of this week’s game, Adelaide Oval. He has had 35 wins and 18 losses there. The only other venues he has played at more than six times are Docklands (11 games) and the MCG (10 games).
Zak Butters
DOB: 08/09/2000
Games: 99
Goals: 58
Draft: #12, 2018 AFL National Draft
Debut: Round 1, 2019 v Melbourne at MCG
AFL Honours
- All-Australian (2023)
- AFLCA Champion Player of the Year Award
- AFLPA Most Courageous Player Award
- Third place AFLPA MVP Award
- All-Australian nominee (2020)
- AFLPA 22under22 (2020)
Club Honours
- Vice-captain (2024-present)
- John Cahill Medal (2023)
- Gavin Wanganeen Medal (2020)
