“Flirting around that red line”: Butters not planning to change despite fines stacking up

Zak Butters is on track to become the AFL’s most fined player in the coming years, but the Port Adelaide vice-captain is confident he’s got the right people around him.

After copping two fines in the last two weeks, including a whopping $6250 bill for striking Brisbane’s Jarrod Berry in Round 15’s disastrous loss, Butters has now copped $29,375 in fines.

For a player likely to have signed a contract nearing $1 million per season after finishing fourth in last year’s Brownlow count, the ratio becomes clearer.

But with Butters just 23 years old and 107 games into his career, at his current rate the Power jet is on track to fork out well over $50,000 back to the AFL in the years to come.

The man himself says it’s a by-product of keeping his arousal levels at the optimal level for him.

“I feel like I play at my best when I’m flirting around that red line, obviously not going over it or too far below it but definitely in and around it,” he told SEN SA Breakfast.

“I feel like I’m a really competitive person and it probably shows with my footy. I probably have crossed the line a few times and I’m the first person to call myself an idiot and realise when I’ve done something wrong.

“But the external criticism, I can’t really control that… you have the people you trust and the people around you that give you the right feedback and I’ve got the right feedback from the right people.”

Despite his youth, Butters has copped the second most in fines of any player in the league’s history. It’s a list headed by Giants captain Toby Greene, who has handed back $31,850 back to the AFL over his 228 games.

Jy Simpkin and Dustin Martin are the other two active AFL players to have received over $20,000 in fines across their careers.

Butters has already been cited by the Match Review Officer four times in 2024 but has not been suspended.