Zak Butters has told Port Adelaide he intends to exercise his rights as a restricted free agent and return to Victoria, the club confirmed in a statement on Monday.
Butters is 25, has played for Port since debuting in 2019, and has won the John Cahill Medal as the club's best and fairest three times. He is a dual All-Australian. He has spent eight years in South Australia and said he wanted to be closer to family and friends.
Port Adelaide said Butters "has been an outstanding servant to the football club since debuting in 2019" and that it would "now work to facilitate the best outcome for Port Adelaide through this process".
A restricted free agent is a player who has served eight or nine years at one club, is out of contract, and sits in the top 25 per cent of wage earners on that list. Butters meets all three. He can negotiate with rival clubs, but Port can match whatever he is offered and keep him.
That gives Port a decision rather than a straight departure. If it matches and Butters still wants out, he has to seek a trade or go into the draft. If it declines to match, he leaves and Port receives draft compensation, which the AFL calculates from the contract he signs and his age. A matched offer produces no compensation at all, because nobody has left.
Three Victorian clubs are reported to be in contention. Geelong, Richmond and the Western Bulldogs remain interested after Collingwood ruled itself out, according to AFL.com.au. None has confirmed an offer and Butters has not committed to a club.
Port did not make the top ten and is not playing finals, so its season finished with the home and away rounds. The request lands in the week the AFL opens its finals series with the new wildcard round.
Port's statement did not say whether the club will match an offer. Butters has not named a destination, and no club has confirmed making one.
The AFL exchange period opens after the grand final. Until then the request is a request, and the matching decision, the compensation and any trade all sit in front of both clubs.
