LIST managers from Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs met recently to thrash out potential trade options for Zak Butters in the prospect of the superstar midfielder choosing the Bulldogs as his preferred new home.
Now that part is done, the wheels get into motion on landing the deal.
On Saturday, AFL.com.au revealed Butters had chosen the Western Bulldogs as his new home ahead of Geelong. It was a call many months in the making and one that emerged in the early hours after the Cats' semi-final defeat to Fremantle at Perth. His mind was made before their gallant loss to the Dockers.
The Cats' flight home would have felt a little longer than usual.
After favouring Geelong weeks ago, the Dogs' upgraded nine-year offer – which will be the biggest deal in football history worth around $18 million – as well as Butters' strong pull to the western region and the club he supported as a kid, were factors in him settling on his future home.
The Dogs have given an undertaking they will get a deal done, with this move unlikely to be a deadline day special – of which the Bulldogs have had many in recent years (Josh Dunkley, Bailey Smith, Rory Lobb, Matt Kennedy, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and more).
The recent catch-up between the Power’s Jason Cripps and the Dogs' Michael Regan – who were formerly colleagues at Port Adelaide before Regan landed the Bulldogs job – was a starting point to how things could shape between the parties.
Unlocking the move will be complex, but Port's strategy for some time has been about whatever they get for Butters being part of a three-year draft play.
Expect the Power to be busy in this year's player movement period as they arm themselves with picks to match a bid on likely No.1 selection Dougie Cochrane this year as well as tally up picks (or points) for matching bids on father-son Louis Salopek and Academy prospect Zemes Pilot for 2027.
The end total – spanning at least two years – will be the goal for the Power rather than the singular Butters move, with the other layer of Port losing its best player being that it comes at a time they have tied draftees in a new bidding system that is harder than ever before to match.
Butters started leaning towards the Dogs, with their pitch focusing on his return to the western suburbs where he grew up in Darley and watched his boyhood club win the 2016 AFL premiership, before a positive week sealed the call.
They re-signed Buku Khamis, a good friend and former Western Jets teammate, on a five-year deal amid Carlton's interest. They re-signed Arty Jones on a three-year deal amid Essendon and Brisbane's interest. They have Jordon Butts headed their way as a free agent to boost their defence. And they have told rivals that Tim English is off-limits.
Now the 26-year-old will join a Western Bulldogs outfit that welcomes back Sam Darcy from his knee reconstruction for the start of next season and a midfield that played for Victoria earlier this year – alongside Marcus Bontempelli and Ed Richards – in a crunch contract year for coach Luke Beveridge.
The Bulldogs' obsession with Butters has spanned many years, and if not for former Power coach's Ken Hinkley's close relationship with the midfield superstar then the Port Adelaide matchwinner would likely have sought an exit much earlier in his time in Adelaide such was his homesickness early in his time as an AFL player.
The Dogs have never had a player of Butters' ilk in the prime years of their career want to join the club and take them to a flag. But that's just what Butters has in mind.