{"id":889278,"date":"2026-09-12T11:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T11:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/889278\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T11:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T11:12:14","slug":"afl-2026-zak-butters-bombshell-as-port-adelaide-star-decides-where-he-wants-to-play-next-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/889278\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Zak Butters bombshell as Port Adelaide star decides where he wants to play next season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zak Butters has reportedly chosen the Western Bulldogs as his preferred destination for next season, ending one of the AFL\u2019s biggest sagas.<\/p>\n

According to a report by AFL\u2019s Cal Twoomey on Saturday morning, the three-time All-Australian has informed both the Dogs and Port Adelaide of his decision.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs, whose flag dream came to an end last Saturday night against Adelaide, have reportedly offered Butters a nine-year deal worth around $2 million a season.<\/p>\n

It will give Butters his wish of returning Victoria next season following 156 games for the Power since being drafted with Pick 12 in the 2018 AFL National Draft.<\/p>\n

While the mammoth contract offer, worth around $18m is the biggest in the history of the AFL.<\/p>\n

And according to SEN\u2019s Sam Edmund, Butters celebrated the decision with friends in Seddon Village on Friday night at the Mona Castle Hotel, which is co-owned by retired Bulldog Tom Liberatore.<\/p>\n

Port Adelaide has remained steadfast in its stance that any offer for Butters would be matched by the club, which would force the Dogs to make a trade with the Power.<\/p>\n

However, if they opt not to match the contract, Port would receive the No.5 pick as free agency compensation.<\/p>\n

Early draft choices will be needed to match the likely bid at pick No.1 for their academy gun Dougie Cochrane.<\/p>\n

The suggestion in that case would be that Port and the Dogs could then agree a separate trade deal.<\/p>\n

But AFL boss Greg Swann has warned the league will \u201cscrutinise\u201d every deal this trade period following speculation about a unique Butters trade deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the deals have got to stand up on their merit,\u201d Swann said on SEN earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s see what happens. If Zak goes and (Port) take the compensation pick and then there\u2019s a trade for another player or trades for picks, it\u2019s got to stand up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll just monitor that and see what it looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Butters is a triple club champion and three-time All Australian. At the end of the season, he told Port that he had decided to return to his native Victoria next season.<\/p>\n

Up until last week, Geelong were favourites for his signature. Richmond and Collingwood had been the other clubs vying for Butters during this season. <\/p>\n

Butters, who hails from Darley near Bacchus Marsh, grew up as a Bulldogs fan and ultimately he has opted to become a Dog.<\/p>\n

Butters averaged 29.8 disposals, 6.1 clearances and 5.7 inside 50s in 17 games this season.<\/p>\n

The decision will have plenty of ramifications. For starters, his call likely allows for Geelong to land St Kilda ruckman Rowan Marshall. <\/p>\n

The Cats are also looking increasingly likely to snap up Toby Greene as an unrestricted free agent if he leaves the Giants as anticipated.<\/p>\n

More to come.<\/p>\n

Originally published as Zak Butters bombshell as he decides where he wants to play next season<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zak Butters has reportedly chosen the Western Bulldogs as his preferred destination for next season, ending one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":889279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[458936,458948,458930,458941,393486,458914,379215,89838,458926,458950,134436,458939,458922,380180,458928,458946,397470,394456,458952,410465,458949,458918,3443,638,458955,458927,382524,458932,421177,458921,392263,64,63,55,639,24501,458963,421299,329734,387841,458920,20249,458961,39598,9371,13658,458924,458925,458958,458915,458931,376719,458935,393684,13307,13053,33725,35062,458944,458956,19453,46677,131665,458942,458919,458953,46907,458933,28389,3203,85,458959,221811,64706,427548,458951,379302,420400,458947,409944,458913,112480,382205,458934,421192,378533,415683,215379,48148,389126,280721,458923,458940,458945,458960,458937,376521,458929,356269,458916,428192,458962,458917,380519,458938,458943,458912,19086,80055,660,458957,390804,23510,458954],"class_list":["post-889278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-s-biggest-sagas","tag-s-cal-twoomey","tag-s-sam-edmund","tag-18m","tag-2-million","tag-156-games","tag-17-games","tag-89838","tag-29-8-disposals","tag-5-7","tag-50s","tag-6-1-clearances","tag-a-bulldogs-fan","tag-a-decision","tag-a-dog-butters","tag-a-nine-year-deal","tag-a-report","tag-a-season-it","tag-a-separate-trade-deal-but","tag-a-trade","tag-a-triple-club-champion","tag-a-unique-butters-trade-deal","tag-adelaide","tag-afl","tag-afl-boss-greg-swann","tag-all-the-deals","tag-an-end","tag-an-unrestricted-free-agent","tag-another-player","tag-anticipated-more","tag-any-offer","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-bacchus-marsh","tag-both-the-dogs-and-port-adelaide","tag-butters","tag-darley","tag-earlier-this-month","tag-every-deal","tag-favourites","tag-free-agency-compensation-early-draft-choices","tag-friday","tag-friends","tag-geelong","tag-his-call","tag-his-decision-the-bulldogs","tag-his-native-victoria-next-season-up","tag-his-preferred-destination","tag-his-signature","tag-his-wish","tag-its-stance","tag-last-saturday","tag-last-week","tag-morning","tag-next-season","tag-night","tag-pick-12","tag-pick-no-1","tag-picks","tag-plenty","tag-port","tag-ramifications","tag-retired-bulldog-tom-liberatore-port-adelaide","tag-richmond-and-collingwood","tag-saturday","tag-seddon-village","tag-sen","tag-speculation","tag-sports","tag-st-kilda-ruckman-rowan-marshall","tag-starters","tag-swann","tag-that-case","tag-the-2018-afl-national","tag-the-afl","tag-the-afl-season","tag-the-afl-and","tag-the-biggest","tag-the-biggest-sagas","tag-the-cats","tag-the-club","tag-the-compensation-pick","tag-the-contract","tag-the-decision","tag-the-dogs","tag-the-end","tag-the-giants","tag-the-history","tag-the-league","tag-the-likely-bid","tag-the-mammoth-contract-offer","tag-the-mona-castle-hotel","tag-the-no-5-pick","tag-the-other-clubs","tag-the-power","tag-the-power-however","tag-the-season","tag-the-three-time-all-australian","tag-the-western-bulldogs","tag-their-academy-gun-dougie-cochrane-the-suggestion","tag-their-merit","tag-this-season","tag-this-season-the-decision","tag-this-trade-period","tag-three-time-all-australian","tag-toby-greene","tag-trades","tag-victoria","tag-whose-flag-dream","tag-zak","tag-zak-butters","tag-zak-butters-bombshell-rocks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889278","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=889278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/889279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}