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BUTTERS \u2018NEED TO START HAVING CONVERSATIONS\u2019 WITH FAMILY<\/p>\n
In-demand Port Adelaide star Zak Butters says he needs to begin conversations with loved ones around a call on his footy future, which will be an \u201cemotional\u201d decision.<\/p>\n
Butters has been in scintillating form so far in 2026, despite the Power\u2019s 3-7 start. He\u2019s the No.8 rated played in the competition, ranking fifth for disposals (31.0), eighth for inside 50s (5.7) and ninth for contested possessions (12.4).<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old\u2019s output hasn\u2019t been hindered by his looming contract call, with Butters eligible for free agency at season\u2019s end. Subsequently, he\u2019s attracting multimillion-dollar offers from Victorian-based clubs, with the Western Bulldogs and Geelong seen as the most likely suitors should he wish to return to Victoria.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters ahead of his 150th game on Saturday night against Carlton, Butters said he would visit family home in Darley during the Power\u2019s bye weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I haven\u2019t even spoke to my family too much about it to be honest,\u201d Butters said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
AFL reveal Devils establishment rules | 02:24<\/p>\n
\u201cI have just really enjoyed having them at games and playing footy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always said I\u2019d probably think about it more in the back half of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think 150 games, it creeps up on you quickly, so it\u2019s probably something I need to start having conversations about it with family and friends and people I\u2019m closest to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Butters said deciding where he wanted to play in 2027 and beyond was \u201cobviously a big decision\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think about everything \u2026 there\u2019s emotion attached to it, definitely,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter what, the decision is going to be a pretty emotional one for mine no matter what I do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like you go through a number of emotions, up and down, what could be, what can\u2019t be, what you want to do. But yeah it\u2019s a pretty tough decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
MASS INTEREST IN UNCONTRACTED SAINT<\/p>\n
Rival clubs are \u201ccircling like sharks\u201d as emerging St Kilda star Darcy Wilson weighs up his footy future, according to Midweek Tackle panellist Jon Ralph.<\/p>\n
Wilson is in career-best form almost halfway through his third season, kicking nine goals and averaging 20.3 disposals from his nine matches so far.<\/p>\n
But Wilson, who was taken at Pick 18 in the 2023 draft, has yet to re-sign with St Kilda, with the 20-year-old\u2019s three-year draft contract due to expire at season\u2019s end. He isn\u2019t expected to enter contract talks for a little while yet.<\/p>\n
Foxfooty.com.au<\/a> reported earlier this month<\/a> Wilson was one of the most in-demand uncontracted players in the AFL, with \u201ceasily more than half the league interested in acquiring his services\u201d. North Melbourne and Adelaide, in particular, have been heavily linked to Wilson.<\/p>\n Speaking on Fox Footy\u2019s Midweek Tackle, CODE Sports reporter Ralph said the Saints faced a delicate salary balancing act to retain Wilson.<\/p>\n Two teams creep into Premiership window! | 02:00<\/p>\n \u201cThey are circling like sharks. Everyone wants a piece of the uncontracted Darcy Wilson,\u201d Ralph told Midweek Tackle on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019s been put out there in terms of trying to secure maximum dollars with clubs like North Melbourne interested.<\/p>\n \u201cThe St Kilda view is diametrically opposed, that he\u2019s telling them how much he loves the club, he\u2019s getting serious midfield minutes and he\u2019s got a really close relationship with his former development boss in Lenny Hayes, who\u2019s the current footy boss and probably the bloke who\u2019ll help with contract negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you pay Nas (Wanganeen-Milera) $2 million, you pay (Sam) Flanders $900,000, you pay Matteas Phillipou according to reports $1 million, what\u2019s he (Wilson) worth? He\u2019s clearly worth $1.2 million to $1.3 million to a North Melbourne, but what do St Kilda pay to keep him?\u201d<\/p>\n EMERGING DOG ATTRACTING INTEREST<\/p>\n The Western Bulldogs have tabled a fresh deal for the uncontracted Arty Jones, but rival clubs have flagged interest in the emerging forward, reports Josh Gabelich of <\/a>AFL Media<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jones, who was taken with Pick 43 in the 2021 draft, has been on the fringes of the Bulldogs\u2019 senior team for most of his four-and-a-half seasons at the club, but has shown promising signs in his five games so far this season.<\/p>\n The 22-year-old kicked three goals against the Bombers in Round 4 and has averaged 15.3 disposals from his past three matches.<\/p>\n Merrett calls for patience for Bombers | 01:39<\/p>\n AFL Media reported the Dogs were keen to secure Jones on a new deal promptly, but added West Coast was \u201camong a handful of clubs\u201d monitoring his contract situation.<\/p>\n Amid the Bulldogs\u2019 recent on-ball woes, dual premiership Kangaroos David King on Sunday night urged coach Luke Beveridge to give Jones midfield minutes.<\/p>\n \u201cCan I give you one wildcard? Arty Jones on the dancefloor. Put him in the middle,\u201d King told Fox Footy\u2019s First Crack.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t look conventional, but the best midfielders at the moment haven\u2019t looked conventional when you first (expose them in the midfield).<\/p>\n \u201cPut him, close your eyes a couple of times and see how he goes. Never been in at a centre bounce, so throw him in and have a look.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zak Butters addresses the biggest AFL contract question of the season, while rivals are circling an uncontracted Saint…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":684052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,689,55,639,3423,329735,13120,35347,31212,20779,2362,14350,329734,329733,329732,328313,29980,2105,9130,681,329024,217704,329736,663,7198,52603,145622,677,329731,12922,6082,329030,2528,1124,85,1122,26889,7200,329737,11236,329730,660,698,25581,23510],"class_list":["post-684051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-ben-waterworth","tag-cash-squeeze","tag-centre-bounce","tag-conference-video","tag-contract-negotiations","tag-contract-situation","tag-contract-talks","tag-darcy-wilson","tag-darley","tag-delicate-salary-balancing","tag-emerging-dog","tag-establishment-rules","tag-family-home","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gold-coast-suns","tag-jon-ralph","tag-josh-barnett","tag-lenny-hayes","tag-looming-contract-call","tag-luke-beveridge","tag-michael-willson","tag-midfield-minutes","tag-multimillion-dollar-offers","tag-oceania","tag-on-ball-woes","tag-player-movement-news","tag-port-adelaide","tag-recruitment-plans","tag-rival-clubs","tag-south-australia","tag-sports","tag-st-kilda","tag-st-kilda-saints","tag-sydney-swans","tag-three-year-draft-contract","tag-trade-news","tag-uncontracted-saint","tag-victoria","tag-western-bulldogs","tag-zach-merrett","tag-zak-butters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684051","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=684051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/684052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=684051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=684051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=684051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}