RICHMOND coach Adem Yze has confirmed his club’s interest in Port Adelaide superstar Zak Butters, stating the Tigers would be “crazy not to be” in the conversation for the midfielder.
AFL.com.au revealed on Tuesday that Richmond has entered the race for Butters, with the Tigers ready to deploy a significant war chest to bolster their young list through free agency.
A dual All-Australian and AFLCA Champion Player of the Year, Butters has been strongly linked to the Western Bulldogs and Geelong for more than a year as the Port Adelaide gamebreaker continues to weigh up his future and a potential move back home to Victoria.
Asked how serious the club is about acquiring Butters, Yze confirmed the Tigers are “thinking about it” and highlighted an aggressive list management strategy designed to accelerate their rebuild.
“Our club is serious about getting better,” Yze said on Thursday. “Whether that means you’re bringing in free agents or established players, or going into the draft again with a really strong draft hand.
“So those decisions will be made later in the year, but to be in those discussions, obviously, Blair (list manager Blair Hartley) needs to be thinking about those things. So when there’s a player as good as (Butters and) there’s a possibility that it might become available, we’ve got to think about it.
“That’s our job as a footy club to get better. We want to bounce back and get back to finals as quickly as we can. Whether, and I’ve said this before, we start looking at those established players this year or next, that will start to come in or start to link in with our planning.
“He’s obviously a terrific player. We’d be crazy not to be thinking about it.”
The Tigers have cleared significant salary cap space following their premiership era, opening the door to potentially lure Butters to Punt Rd.
The midfielder’s next contract is expected to command close to $2 million per season over at least eight years, which would make it the biggest deal in football history.
The shift from the Tigers follows a period of building a stable of young talent, including nine top-30 draft picks over the past two off-seasons, which has transitioned Richmond into one of the youngest lists in the competition.
Armed with both a strong draft hand and significant financial flexibility, the club is now prepared to aggressively attack the player market as early as this year.
The Tigers are considered outsiders in the pursuit of Butters, with the 25-year-old indicating he will make a final call at the end of the year.
The link to Butters came after Richmond suffered a 42-point loss to Port Adelaide last Saturday, with the midfielder leading the charge with 30 disposals and six clearances.
Following the defeat, Yze took a glass half full perspective on the team’s performance with an acknowledgment that their offensive output had fallen below AFL standards in previous weeks.
“We’ve had a really nice review. When you think about it, when you’re looking at (the) numbers and the positives that came out of the game, I was really proud of our effort,” Yze said.
Zak Butters evades Lachy Dovaston during round one, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos
“The weeks before, the numbers just weren’t good enough, they weren’t up to standard. You only get 35 inside 50s. So we rectified a few things, (but now) we’ve just got to finish our work and get some reward for effort in our front half.
“With that, there was a little bit of frustration early in the week, but then once you see some solutions, hopefully that can turn to excitement.
“(It was a) really clear review, (a) really honest review — like we do every week — but we feel like we’ve hopefully come up with some solutions.
