Power swerve setback to star midfielder
Two weeks before the 2024 season officially begins, Port Adelaide has dodged a terrible blow when gun ball winner Zak Butters was cleared of an ankle injury.
Butters was substituted out before quarter-finals in Port’s pre-season match versus Fremantle at Alberton Oval.
With fewer than ten minutes remaining, Butters and his ankle were placed on ice, and cameras saw the Brownlow fancy wince after rolling his ankle on the outside wing.
Although the sight of the 23-year-old sitting on the bench undoubtedly shocked Power supporters, Butters moved quickly to allay worries before they could spiral out of control.
“I just happened to roll it by myself running, which was a bit silly of me,” Butters said to Fox Footy following the 39-point victory on home ground.
We have a few weeks till our inaugural match, so maybe I can prepare it well for that.
“I’ll dedicate the next week or two to my recuperation. We have plenty of time to rest it as we have a few days off coming up.”
After the game, head coach Ken Hinkley offered his own observations, saying that when there were no championship points at stake, Port would never risk breaking a priceless asset in Butters.
He is not the kind of player you want to mess with, therefore we didn’t want to take a chance.
“I don’t care how many minutes we have to play he is not going to be here.
“I think Zak’s already spoken to the media himself and is reasonably bullish that he’ll be okay.
“But it’s good timing. We’ve got a week to get him over the incident and then a week to prepare him for the next game so that’ll be nice.
“Let’s be fair dinkum here, we don’t really need to make his ankle any more swollen than it already was at the start and if you’re going back out, that would clearly happen.
“So, it is a simple rolled ankle and you’d be very surprised if he’s not available for round one so that’s as much accuracy as I can give you.”
Alongside new skipper Connor Rozee, Butters will again act as one of Port’s brightest sparkplugs this season, with the former first-round draftee backing up after of earning John Cahill Medal honours, a debut All-Australian blazer and 27 Brownlow votes in 2023.
Butters and Port Adelaide are scheduled to start their 2024 season when they play host to West Coast at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday, March 17.
