Port Adelaide’s Zak Butters has been called out for a petulant act, telling off a GWS Giants trainer and throwing her chair as he prepared for a set shot.
There was less than two minutes left in the second quarter with the Giants having run up a 9.11 (65) to 5.3 (33) lead when Butters marked about 35m out on the half-forward flank.
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But as he went back, the Giants trainer’s station was in his way.
She tried to help, putting the chair back against the fence, but Butters cleared the way.
It’s not an uncommon occurrence but as the Giants trainer stood looking at him as he kept backing up, the umpire blew his whistle, yelling: “You’ve got to come forward a metre, that’s your line.”
To be fair with Butters, he went for the kick from where the chair was sitting, but it left a bad taste in fans’ mouths.
To make matters worse, he pushed the kick across the face of the goal for a behind.
Butters had a poor first half, with 10 disposals and the behind as well as three tackles and two marks.
But to be fair, he wasn’t alone as Port were outplayed in the first half.
At halftime, Adelaide great Mark Ricciuto was disappointed in Port Adelaide, calling them overly reliant on midfield stars Butters and Connor Rozee.
“They’ve been reliant on Connor Rozee and Zak Butters all season and today it’s caught up with them,” Ricciuto said from the sideline.
“Eight of the 10 top disposal winners are from GWS and if you win that much ball you’re going to have a day out.
“Port Adelaide are going to have to lift big time.”
The Giants dominated the second quarter in particular as the Giants “destroyed” the Power.
“They are stunned at the moment (Port Adelaide),” Darcy said.
“GWS are just in complete control of every part of their game.”
The bar is very high for Butters in 2023 as third in Brownlow Medal betting, sitting at $5.50 behind Collingwood’s Nick Daicos and the Bulldogs’ Marcus Bontempelli.
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