ZAK BUTTERS will be desperate for the AFL to finally close his tab.
After a nervous couple of weeks answering to various Match Review charges, the Port Adelaide superstar is quickly verging on becoming the most fined player in the competition's history.
It's understandably a record that Butters will be reluctant to break, having already been billed an incredible $29,375 worth of fines and served a two-match ban during his relatively short AFL career so far.
Butters, still only 23 years of age, has been charged 15 times across his first 107 appearances. Of those, 13 have resulted in the nearly 30-grand worth of fines, one has led to a suspension, and the other was thrown out at the AFL Tribunal.
It has Butters just one charge away from overtaking Toby Greene as the League's most levied player, with the star Greater Western Sydney captain the only player to have exceeded $30,000 worth of AFL fines.
Greene's exact tab currently sits at a whopping $31,850. That's the result of 24 different charges across his 228-game career, which have tallied nine matches worth of suspensions and 17 incidents deemed worthy of financial sanctions.
Butters, though, has now become just the 11th player in the AFL's history to have racked up more than $20,000 in fines, with four of those – Greene, Butters, Jy Simpkin and Dustin Martin – still active players.
Simpkin has been fined $24,250 across his career, while Martin has amassed $22,150 worth of fines. Nathan Jones ($27,750), Ben Cunnington ($25,900) and Damien Hardwick ($24,700) are among the other most docked players.
Mitch Robinson ($22,500), Dale Thomas ($22,400), Alastair Lynch ($22,000) and Brendan Fevola ($21,600) are the remaining players to have also clocked up in excess of $20,000 worth of AFL sanctions.
THE BUTTERS BILL
Charges: 15
Guilty: 14
Suspensions: 2 matches
Fines: $29,375
R3, 2019: Just three games into his AFL career and was lucky to escape with a $2000 fine after a late bump on Brisbane's Hugh McCluggage, who was running back with the flight. The incident was graded as careless conduct, with low impact to the head.
R8, 2020: Copped a $1000 rough conduct fine for electing to bump a former teammate in St Kilda's Paddy Ryder, who was sandwiched between Butters and Peter Ladhams. The incident was graded as careless conduct, with low impact to the head.
R13, 2020: Whacked with a $500 fine for being involved in a melee during the side's narrow victory over Hawthorn.
R16, 2020: Hit with the first and only suspension of his career after forcefully catching North Melbourne's Jy Simpkin with a high bump, leaving him dazed. He chose to accept his two-match ban, after the incident was graded as careless conduct, with high impact to the head.
PF, 2020: Was charged with forceful front-on contact and hit with a $1500 fine after collecting Jack Riewoldt with a hip to the head, as the Richmond forward bent down to pick up the footy. Was assessed as careless conduct, with low impact and high contact.
R22, 2021: It was an expensive afternoon against Carlton, as Butters was nabbed twice. The first incident saw him catch Nic Newman with a blow to the stomach, as the Blues defender was attempting to tackle teammate Miles Bergman. Slapped with a $2000 fine after the incident was graded as careless conduct, with low impact to the body.
R22, 2021: The second of his striking charges from the same game. This time he appeared to whack Adam Saad over the shoulder as he was kicking late in the match. Was handed a $2000 fine for his action after it was graded as careless conduct, with low impact and high contact.
R20, 2022: Slapped with a $1000 fine for being involved in a melee during Port Adelaide's narrow six-point defeat to Collingwood.
R23, 2023: Hit with another fine, this time worth $1000 for making careless contact with an umpire during Port Adelaide's victory over Fremantle at Optus Stadium.
QF, 2023: Was involved in two heated spats with Dayne Zorko during a qualifying final loss in 2023. The first incident saw him charged with rough conduct, having rammed into the back of his Brisbane counterpart behind play. The incident was graded as intentional conduct, with low impact to the body and resulted in a $2000 fine.
QF, 2023: The first flashpoint between these two came in the opening quarter, but Butters was also fined again for a 'tummy tap' on Zorko late in the match. It earned the Port Adelaide man another $2000 fine after the incident was graded as intentional conduct, with low impact to the body.
R11, 2024: One of two players, alongside Jack Ginnivan, to be hit with a $1875 fine for engaging in a melee during Port Adelaide's thrilling late win over Hawthorn. The first of two charges during this game.
R11, 2024: Copped a massive $10,000 fine – reduced to $6250 – for a third offence after a rough conduct charge on Lloyd Meek. He floored the Hawthorn ruck with a bump off the ball which was graded by the Match Review as intentional conduct, with low impact to the body.
R14, 2024: He was offered a one-match ban for a jab to the jaw of Greater Western Sydney midfielder Tom Green behind play. However, he appealed at the AFL Tribunal where Port Adelaide was able to successfully argue that the force was not sufficient enough to justify the Match Review's grading of 'low impact'. The charge was subsequently thrown out and he was free to play the following week.
R15, 2024: Having hit the third offence threshold already, Butters was offered another $10,000 fine – again downgraded to $6250 with an early guilty plea – after appearing to strike Brisbane's Jarrod Berry to the midriff in an off-the-ball incident right on half-time. It was graded by the Match Review as intentional conduct, with low impact to the body.
