{"id":500082,"date":"2026-02-24T02:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T02:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/500082\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T02:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T02:49:09","slug":"mitch-georgiades-on-zak-butters-port-adelaide-power-season-preview-josh-carr-pre-season-updates-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/500082\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitch Georgiades on Zak Butters, Port Adelaide Power season preview, Josh Carr, pre-season updates, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While Zak Butters\u2019 future beyond 2026 is uncertain, the Port Adelaide superstar is fully invested right now.<\/p>\n<p>Mitch Georgiades says Butters has \u201cbought in 110 per cent\u201d at the Power this pre-season as the club prepares to put its revised game plan under Josh Carr to the test. <\/p>\n<p>Butters\u2019 future has been a hot topic over the summer ahead of a year where the in-demand midfielder is eligible for free agency and set to be targeted by multiple Victorian clubs as he considers a move back home.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>WHAT&#8217;S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n<p>Watch the 2026 AFL pre-season match sims and AAMI Community Series LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkafl-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-afl-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" title=\"kayosports.com.au\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to foxfooty.com.au, Georgiades said Butters has totally committed to putting his best foot forward at Alberton and driving the club to success in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s bought in 110 per cent. He\u2019s so football orientated, he\u2019s just a competitive beast,\u201d Georgiades said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery time he\u2019s on that field he\u2019s absolutely playing footy and full hearted into making this team as good as it can possibly be. He leads from the front, on and off the field. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s obviously a big year from him, but I think at the forefront of his mind is winning and playing footy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mitch Georgiades and Zak Butters celebrate a goal (Photo by Sarah Reed\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTSMitch Georgiades and Zak Butters representing their states in State of Origin (Photo by Michael Willson\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n<p>SEE ALSO: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/afl\/teams\/port-adelaide-power\/afl-2026-ken-hinkley-on-port-adelaide-power-season-predictions-brisbane-lions-threepeat-latest-news\/news-story\/9d2e89c3c3e6f3ff1beb143c05f7cc6b\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Ken Hinkley\u2019s \u2018biased\u2019 Port call as 2026 AFL predictions revealed<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It comes during a transitional period at the club after Carr took over from long-time coach Ken Hinkley following a nine-win season.<\/p>\n<p>The Power have added many more new faces to Carr\u2019s team and their wider footy department including former Suns coach Stuart Dew and ex-Bombers boss Ben Rutten.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s made for a \u201creally fresh and exciting\u201d pre-season with different ideas and a tweaked game plan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s obviously changes within the program. There\u2019s different ways \u2018Kenny\u2019 and Josh coach. The way they see the game is definitely different,\u201d Georgiades said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s people we brought in from different clubs with multiple experiences and only makes us a better side.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere will be slight changes in the way we play the game \u2014 the whole game is going to going to complement each other. The offence is going to be a bit more free moving, opportunities to play what we see and play smart football and then being able to defend behind is something we\u2019re going to really prioritise this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s exciting and I\u2019m looking forward to seeing how the season plays out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Georgiades said players have already formed strong relationships with Carr given he\u2019d been at the club the last couple of years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s obviously slightly younger, there\u2019s different demographics from \u2018Kenny\u2019, so there\u2019s different relationships from that regard,\u201d the star forward added.<\/p>\n<p>New Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr (Photo by Mark Brake\/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n<p>Just don\u2019t bring up the R-word within the four walls of Alberton.<\/p>\n<p>Port Adelaide chair David Koch earlier this month revealed the club had banned the word \u201crebuild\u201d and said finals were still firmly on the agenda in Carr\u2019s first season in charge. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a message echoed by Georgiades as the club looks to bounce back from an injury-riddled 2025.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re still obviously striving for the ultimate success and really believe we can challenge in finals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not using it as an excuse, but last year injuries did hinder us at stages. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s so much talent in this team. If we can get it all working as one and working together, there\u2019s no real excuse or limit on what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Georgiades named recruits Will Brodie, Corey Durdin and Jacob Wehr as teammates who\u2019ve impressed over the pre-season, while second-year forward Joe Berry is \u201creally lighting up the track.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As for his own development, Georgiades wants to continue to round out his game and expand his leadership, following a career-best 58-goal season and State of Origin appearance for Western Australia.<\/p>\n<p>Mitch Georgiades is coming off a career-best season (Photo by Sarah Reed\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n<p>The 24-year old\u2019s importance to Carr\u2019s front six has never been more vital with Todd Marshall making the move to defence in 2026 and with the likes of Charlie Dixon and Willie Rioli retiring over the last couple of years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s about continuing to challenge myself on how I can get better and impact the game in more ways than kicking goals,\u201d Georgiades said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat might be playing a bit higher at stages. Obviously last year we lost a fair few key forwards to injury and it sort of resulted in me playing a bit deeper.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019d like to add some more strings to my bow and to be able to play different positions and complement our forward line. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne thing that\u2019s great about our forward line is we\u2019ve got a lot of versatility. Particularly with our talls, they\u2019re all very mobile, between Jack Lukosius, Jack Whitclock and Ollie Lord. So that\u2019s probably the strength for us.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to grow my leadership and continue to challenge myself and the players around me to really drive this group forward and contend for finals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While Zak Butters\u2019 future beyond 2026 is uncertain, the Port Adelaide superstar is fully invested right now. Mitch&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500083,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[233553,638,64,63,689,55,639,684,146722,3239,251394,251555,251551,41557,54883,18664,13659,2105,9130,251557,12141,14442,27709,7484,7198,251550,677,39209,6082,12104,244612,251552,251553,251554,199190,1124,85,86158,42261,251556,3439,23511],"class_list":{"0":"post-500082","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-aami-community-series-live","9":"tag-afl","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","13":"tag-australian-football-league","14":"tag-australianfootballleague","15":"tag-ben-cotton","16":"tag-ben-rutten","17":"tag-carlton-blues","18":"tag-cats-confident","19":"tag-charlie-dixon","20":"tag-club-knicks","21":"tag-club-looks","22":"tag-footy-department","23":"tag-game-plan","24":"tag-geelong-cats","25":"tag-getty-images-inc","26":"tag-gold-coast-suns","27":"tag-in-demand-superstar","28":"tag-jeremy-cameron","29":"tag-joe-berry","30":"tag-josh-carr","31":"tag-ken-hinkley","32":"tag-michael-willson","33":"tag-mitch-georgiades-on-zak-butters","34":"tag-oceania","35":"tag-patrick-dangerfield","36":"tag-port-adelaide","37":"tag-port-adelaide-power","38":"tag-pre-season-match-sims","39":"tag-pre-season-updates","40":"tag-revised-game-plan","41":"tag-season-plays","42":"tag-season-preview","43":"tag-south-australia","44":"tag-sports","45":"tag-stuart-dew","46":"tag-todd-marshall","47":"tag-tweaked-game-plan","48":"tag-western-australia","49":"tag-willie-rioli"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500082","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=500082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}