{"id":471671,"date":"2026-02-11T00:09:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T00:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/471671\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T00:09:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T00:09:09","slug":"chad-cornes-on-zak-butters-future-port-adelaide-power-west-coast-eagles-open-to-adding-lachie-neale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/471671\/","title":{"rendered":"Chad Cornes on Zak Butters future, Port Adelaide Power, West Coast Eagles open to adding Lachie Neale"},"content":{"rendered":"

A former Port Adelaide assistant has made a big prediction around Zak Butters\u2019 future. <\/p>\n

Plus a club is open to adding Lachie Neale if he decides to eventually depart Brisbane. <\/p>\n

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\u201899 PER CENT\u2019: EX-PORT ASSISTANT\u2019S BIG BUTTERS PREDICTION<\/p>\n

Former Port Adelaide assistant coach Chad Cornes has predicted Zak Butters is a 99 per cent chance to leave the club at season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

Butters will be the number one target for several Victorian clubs as he prepares to become a restricted free agent at season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

It comes as the Power transitions into a new era under Josh Carr including a big turnover of the coaching staff and several other members of the key footy department.<\/p>\n

Serong signs long term deal with Dockers | 00:43<\/p>\n

Cornes, who was among Port\u2019s assistant coaches to depart after serving under Ken Hinkley since the end 2017, expects Butters to eventually make the call to return to Victoria given the family pull. <\/p>\n

\u201c99 (per cent likely to leave) in my opinion. But I have not spoken to \u2018Buttsy\u2019 for a few months,\u201d Cornes said on SEN radio<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard great things about the new program and what they\u2019re doing at the club, so whether that sways him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just know the connection he has with his family back in Victoria, the property he owns is one of the best I\u2019ve ever seen. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo it wouldn\u2019t be anything against Port Adelaide, him leaving, it\u2019d be the attraction to get home and spend time with his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

EAGLES OPEN TO ADDING NEALE<\/p>\n

West Coast coach Andrew McQualter says the club would be open to picking up Lachie Neale at season\u2019s end. <\/p>\n

Neale, 32, is due to become a free agent and could consider a move back to Perth after a tumultuous off-season for personal reasons.<\/p>\n

And McQualter said the Eagles are open to utilising all the list management mechanisms available to bolster the rebuilding club\u2019s list long term. <\/p>\n

Ben King earns Victoria call up | 00:32<\/p>\n

\u201cLachie\u2019s had an incredible career. He\u2019s an incredible player. So I think that we\u2019re always on the lookout for players that will help our team,\u201d McQualter told AFL.com.au<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll stay open to that. That\u2019s what the industry is and that\u2019s what free agency is, but I probably won\u2019t comment too publicly on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think consistently we\u2019ll try and get as much talent in the door whichever way we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neale, a two-time Brownlow medallist and two-time premiership player, has played 159 of his 294 AFL games for Brisbane since crossing from Fremantle at the end of 2018. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A former Port Adelaide assistant has made a big prediction around Zak Butters\u2019 future. Plus a club is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,8406,64,63,689,55,639,11295,240684,19061,50272,10124,2485,239706,5337,12141,27709,240683,25875,240682,677,46,6082,701,18003,1124,85,11236,12920,42949,660,7067,3439,23510],"class_list":["post-471671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-andrew-mcqualter","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-ben-king","tag-chad-cornes","tag-coaching-staff","tag-coast-eagles","tag-fremantle-dockers","tag-gold-coast","tag-injury-fears-surrounding","tag-james-harmes","tag-jeremy-cameron","tag-josh-carr","tag-key-footy-department","tag-lachie-neale","tag-list-management-mechanisms","tag-oceania","tag-perth","tag-port-adelaide","tag-queensland","tag-rebuilding-club","tag-south-australia","tag-sports","tag-trade-news","tag-trade-whispers","tag-two-time-premiership-player","tag-victoria","tag-west-coast-eagles","tag-western-australia","tag-zak-butters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}