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Port Adelaide vice-captain Zak Butters says he’ll again crash through the pain barrier while warning Sydney he’s well-placed to cope with a hard tag in their preliminary final.
Butters was substituted from Port’s qualifying loss to Geelong because of sore ribs but played with the injury in their semi-final win against Hawthorn.
The dual All-Australian was kept out of contact drills at Port’s training on Tuesday at Alberton Oval but downplayed his injury.
“I got another training session under the belt today, and a really good one by the boys again,” Butters told reporters.
“I was able to get through and definitely tick some more boxes and get some more confidence in my body.
“If you look across the league at this time of the year … a few players we have (are) on modified training a bit.
“It’s a long season, a lot of games are footy, so you just have to do whatever you can just make sure by the time Friday night rolls around I am ready to go.
“I still like to attack it and still push myself.”
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Butters was in “a little bit of pain” in Port’s thrilling three-point semi-final win against the Hawks.
“But I feel like I’m in pain most weekends and so nothing new there,” he said.
“Footy is a demanding sport. There’s plenty of other players going through some other injuries … and they’re getting up and playing key roles for their teams.”
Butters was already preparing for a potential match-up against Sydney clamp James Jordon, who has performed tagging jobs with aplomb this season.
“He’s a pretty hard player to play against,” Butters said.
Zak Butters. (Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
“Whether he comes to me or Hornet (Jason Horne-Francis) or Connor (Rozee), I feel like there’s a few in there he could go to at different stages.
“As a team we … have looked at that already and that’s something that we’ll be expecting so if they choose to do that, we’ll be ready.”
Butters’ output dropped amid close tagging earlier in the season but said he was now better equipped to cope after advice from Brisbane’s dual Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale, arguably the most tagged player in the competition.
“To see Lachie Neale deal with it again on the weekend, he’s the one I’ve looked up to throughout the year and probably the last three or four years – he deals with it most weeks more than most,” Butters said.
“I have had a few little chats with him over time and he’s given me some good advice.
“So I feel like I’ve got some good plans in place and some good people in my corner to help me out.
“But at the end of the day it’s up to me to beat them and for me to go there and compete and fight hard and help my team win.”
Hugh McCluggage has revealed how Lachie Neale’s learnt to turn the tables on his inevitable tag as the flag-hunting Brisbane Lions midfielder continues to push through the pain.
The dual Brownlow Medallist was on light duties at Tuesday’s open training session ahead of Saturday’s AFL preliminary final against Geelong.
He’s in no doubt for the MCG battle, Neale’s management of heel soreness is something that has restricted his preparation for the second half of this season.
The 31-year-old was limited to 19 disposals in the Lions’ incredible semi-final comeback defeat of Greater Western Sydney, Tony Bedford doing his best to contain Brisbane’s co-captain.
Tom Atkins looms as the Cat most likely to assume the same role on Saturday.
Lachie Neale handballs while being tackled by Ryley Sanders and Adam Treloar. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Neale’s midfield partner McCluggage said they had grown accustomed to the attention.
“When you first start getting tagged, you try to fight your own battle and just run around by yourself really and it just creates a bit of a 50-50 in there,” McCluggage said.
“So (now) he’ll come to one of us – me or Dunks (Josh Dunkley) – and create a bit of a numbers advantage so we can get free or we take a two-on-one.
“That’s one of the things … he went out to corridor side a couple of times just as protection.
“He’s added that string to his bow this year; being able to recognise when he’s getting tagged and really play a team role.
“It’s not always about how many touches you get and how much impact you have that way.
“There’s so many things you can do, other than that, which help the team and he definitely did that against the Giants.”
The round-19 return of second-year star Will Ashcroft from long-term injury has also changed the equation, the 20-year-old superb in his first two finals appearances.
He helped tear the game apart in a sizzling first half against Carlton (20 disposals) in week one of the finals then was a huge factor against the Giants (27 disposals).
“It’s remarkable for anyone but Will Ashcroft I’d say, because of the work that he puts in, because of what we see him do behind the scenes,” McCluggage said of his form on return.
“It’s not just the physical side of the game, but the mental side as well, in a final when people can tighten up.
“As an older player, you can probably be thinking a little bit about the result and what’s on the line. He just played with freedom, and you can see that.”
More than 1000 fans attended the side’s Brighton Homes Arena session on Tuesday, players given Monday off to refocus after a win McCluggage admits is still sinking in.
“To be honest I don’t know how we found a way,” he said.
“For sure it fills you with confidence.
“But at the same time it also goes to show how big momentum is in footy.
“If you’re on the other side of it, it’s really hard to stop.
“So we need to keep going to work.”
Jack Henry is finally feeling sure-footed again.
The Geelong defender is over the foot injuries that destroyed his 2023 campaign and back taking on the AFL’s best forwards.
And Brisbane star Joe Daniher looms as the next big gun in his sights.
Henry had a stress fracture early in 2022, then had surgery at the start of 2023, before his year was ended early by a Lisfranc injury – suffered in a relatively innocuous incident – in that same troublesome right foot.
“I just had to rebuild, learn how to walk again,” Henry said.
“It’s a bit exaggerated, but it’s a lot of stair-walking and just strengthening all the muscles throughout the feet and all the ligaments as well.
“It’s just a long, slow process, but I got to do that over the break, in the last off-season, and then in our preseason as well.
“I didn’t do any ballet – that was probably by my choice – but a lot of ballet-style exercises.”
Feet can be notoriously difficult to get right.
But Henry never felt like he wouldn’t return to his best.
“I was pretty confident,” he said.
“Like the left side of the foot, that was bit unlucky with a few of those, but I knew that had been properly fixed.
“Then I was just unlucky, got trod on awkwardly on the right side last year.
“Tommy Stewart, he’d been through the same injury, we saw how he came back from that – he had a couple of All-Australians post all that.
“So you can see you can get back to your best after those sort of things.”
Henry’s better run of luck has allowed him to play 24 games this year – and more footy with younger brother Ollie – even if they’re usually at opposite ends of the field.
“It’s really exciting, especially when he’s up and firing and doing well,” he said.
“It’s great just to be able to watch and give a little fist pump behind the ball when he’s kicking goals.”
Henry, Mark Blicavs and Jake Kolodjashnij will have to handle a dynamic Brisbane attack in the preliminary final at the MCG on Saturday evening.
That includes semi-final hero Daniher, who got the better of star GWS defender Sam Taylor late to prove the Lions’ matchwinner.
“We usually try and do a pretty collaborative effort with our keys down there,” Henry said.
“They’ve got a lot of dangerous players.
“Between probably Kola, Blitz and I, it will be a pretty tough task, but it’ll be exciting.”
Geelong face a selection squeeze in defence, with Sam De Koning pressing his case and defender/midfielder Stewart set to return.
“We’re always pretty confident with who we have back there,” Henry said.
“We’ve got a lot of faith in each other to get the job done.”
© AAP
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