Arabic version: باترز يؤيد تغييرات مستقبلية على انتقالات لاعبي دوري كرة القدم الأسترالية

According to ABC News, Zak Butters says possible changes to AFL player movement “wouldn’t be a bad thing” after he joined the Western Bulldogs on a nine-year free-agency deal worth $2 million a season. The three-time All Australian was unveiled at Whitten Oval following his move from Port Adelaide, where he had one year remaining on his contract.

Butters said he knew he was leaving Alberton after open conversations with Port Adelaide at the end of the previous season. He discussed with his manager, Peter Lenton, whether to make public his intention to return to Victoria while still playing his final season with the Power. “I definitely contemplated and thought about that,” he said, adding that the AFL landscape was “probably quite” not ready for it.

The midfielder contrasted the AFL system with the NRL, where players can sign with rival clubs in the final year of a contract, or earlier with permission, and agreements are often announced during a season. In the AFL, listed players who are out of contract can officially move only in the off-season through trade, free agency, drafts and the supplemental selection period. Butters said his approach to football and training meant he felt he could still “show up and front up and do it”.

Butters was courted by the Bulldogs, Geelong, Collingwood and Richmond, with Geelong considered the frontrunner. He denied that he or his management told the Cats they were his first preference, saying he did not fully decide until returning to his family property at Darley, west of Melbourne, after Port Adelaide’s season. The Bulldogs’ pitch drew on his childhood support of the club, including a handwritten letter from 11-year-old Hunter Zerafa with a 20-cent coin taped inside. Butters said he still has the letter and coin at home.