AFL
4 hours ago
"All in": Bulldogs CEO speaks on Butters pursuit
By Nicholas Quinlan
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Western Bulldogs CEO Ameet Bains has given the latest update on the club’s pursuit of Zak Butters, saying they are all in on bringing him to the Kennel.
After handing a trade request to Port Adelaide to leave this off-season, the Butters sweepstakes has seemingly come down to three clubs with Richmond, Geelong and the Western Bulldogs all in the hunt for his services.
The Dogs have had their interest flagged in the 25-year-old since the last trade period, which would see him play for the club he supported as a child.
On Thursday, it was reported by SEN’s Sam Edmund that the club had made an increased and final offer to the Port Adelaide star that they hope will be enough to secure his services.
While the CEO did dismiss some of the reporting in recent days, he did reiterate their interest.
“The accuracy of some of those reports and timing and things like that, I'm not sure if…well, I'm sure they're not 100% right,” Bains told AFL Nation.
“In terms of Zak, he's obviously indicated he wants to come home.
“We've been someone as a club who has been open about an interest in him if he were to do that.”
With Butters being a restricted free agent, Port Adelaide can and will match any offer any of the three clubs makes, which forces the preferred club to make a trade.
And with the Port Adelaide star only indicating he wants to return to Victoria as of yet, Bains notes it’s realistic that without him nominating, he could be at any of the three clubs.
“As we understand it, that's a realistic chance,” he continued.
“I think he's still working through his decision as to where he wants to go, and that's what's been conveyed to us.
“One aspect that is important, particularly from his management group's perspective, is a club being able to get a deal done if, as Port have indicated, they match the bid, so that'll be a consideration.”
The Western Bulldogs will either play Geelong or Adelaide in an elimination final, which will be confirmed following the other Wildcard clash between Melbourne v Carlton.