As one of South Australia’s most respected Australian Football League legends, Brownlow Medallist and eight-time All Australian Mark Ricciuto has delivered a stark assessment of Port Adelaide superstar Zak Butters’ future at the club, claiming there is a 99% likelihood the young gun will depart for Victoria at the end of the current season.
Butters is entering the final stretch of his existing contract with Port Adelaide based at Alberton, and his impending free agency has already triggered widespread speculation of a heated bidding war for his services when the off-season transfer window opens. According to industry rumours, the Western Bulldogs hold the strongest position to secure Butters’ signature, as the player has openly shared his goal to relocate closer to Darley, his rural Victorian hometown.
In comments shared with media this week, Ricciuto outlined the two stark paths Port Adelaide’s list management team now faces. The first option involves ramping up a massive contract offer to convince Butters to stay, potentially pushing his annual salary as high as AUD 2.5 million – well above the AUD 2 million figure widely cited as the going rate for star players at Melbourne-based clubs. The alternative would see the Power cut ties, capitalise on the transfer market to secure a package of high-value early draft picks, and accelerate a full team rebuild ahead of the upcoming entry of the Tasmanian AFL team, which will reshape future draft allocations.
“All I can go on is what I hear from everyone across the industry, and everyone says he’s probably a 99 per cent chance of going,” Ricciuto said. “I don’t know what the list managers at Port Adelaide will do – they might chuck an extra half a million a year on top of any existing offer, but who knows? They could also choose to let him leave, pocket the draft picks, and push forward with their rebuild. Chad Cornes has raised questions about Mitch Georgiades potentially departing too; if both players leave this off-season, Port could walk away with four or five top-round picks before the Tasmanian team entry adjusts the draft structure. I don’t know what will end up happening, but if you follow the rumour mill, the rumour mill says he’s gone.”
Beyond his analysis of Butters’ future, Ricciuto also shared his assessment of his former club, the Adelaide Crows, heading into their upcoming Round 5 Gather Round clash against Carlton this Thursday night. The Crows currently hold a 1-3 win-loss record after dropping three consecutive close matches against the Western Bulldogs, Geelong and Fremantle – a start that has left many fans concerned about the team’s trajectory this season.
Ricciuto, however, urged supporters not to hit the panic button just yet, noting that Adelaide’s slow start comes against an unusually tough opening schedule. “I think they’ve played four really good sides, had a couple of slow starts and their midfield is perhaps a little bit down as well,” he explained. “The team’s ball movement has been a talking point, so I think they’re probably only playing at 70 to 80 per cent of their full capability right now. They’ve still been competitive with the top teams in the competition, so I think there’s a lot of upside with this Adelaide group. I certainly wouldn’t be panicking, but I’d want to see some improvement in form from the players who are currently underperforming. That’s not uncommon for anyone in the competition – anyone can hit a form slump, but as long as you put in the work on the training track, you turn things around eventually.”
Ahead of this year’s Gather Round hosted in South Australia, Ricciuto has also thrown his support behind the “Always respect, always DrinkWise” public health campaign, urging footy supporters flocking to Adelaide for the blockbuster weekend of football to prioritise responsible drinking and look out for their fellow fans.
“It’s a big weekend Gather Round, it’s a good time, there’s lots of people in Adelaide, lots of interstaters,” he said. “I think the key thing is to drink alcohol in moderation and making sure you’re remembering Gather Round for the right reasons. There’s a lot of passion in footy, in close games, in big moments, so just do everything in moderation.”