Port Adelaide state "full trust" in potentially homebound Butters

Despite remaining contract uncertainty, Port Adelaide has reinstated trust in superstar Zak Butters, granting vice-captaincy ahead of the 2026 season.

With rumours circulating for months surrounding his potential playing future, the Victorian-born star is yet to recommit to the Power, as reports of interest from numerous clubs continue to stack up.

That said, the Power have expressed their faith in the three-time best and fairest, naming him alongside captain Connor Rozee and co-vice Willem Drew as leaders of the club for the upcoming season.

Irrespective of his playing future beyond ’26, captain Connor Rozee has kept full faith in his star teammate ahead of a crucial year for the club.

“I think that sort of stuff gets blown out of proportion outside of the footy club,” Rozee told SEN Breakfast. “We know that he is fully invested for this year.

“We will get to the end of the year or whenever that stuff gets sorted out and they will have to talk through that, but at the moment our playing group has full trust in him, that he is here for the right reasons.

“He is a great role model for all of our younger players as well, so I’m really excited to have him as a part of the leadership group again.”

Port Adelaide has undergone surgery at the heart over the off-season, completing a complete turnover of coaching and staff in attempt to resurrect life into their list.

With Ken Hinkley moving on from his long-term post at the helm, Josh Carr has officially stepped into the solo role as head coach, and with him came a range of changes on the Port Adelaide coaching panel.

Led by Carr, the Power have added former Gold Coast head coach Stuart Dew to assist the midfield, while former player Hamish Hartlett (stoppage, contest and opposition analysis), Darren Reeves (forwards) and Luke Webster (backline) make up the new-look on-field assistants.

Despite the overarching changes, Rozee admits that although refreshing, not much has changed in and around the club.

“It’s very similar, to be honest,” he said.

“Probably even more so than when you lose players, because the coaches obviously have a fair impact on the scheduling, how training works and everything that goes on throughout the week.

“We’ve obviously got pretty much a whole new coaching panel. ‘Carry’ was here last year, but everyone else is pretty much in a new role, so it’s been really refreshing.

“Our training and everything we’ve done so far has been new and exciting.”

Under the guidance of Carr, Port Adelaide are preparing for a new defensive setup, hoping to improve on their lowly 13th place finish in 2025.

“The major thing that you’ll notice is defensively, some shifts that we’ve made,” he said.

“'Carry' has a bit of a different outlook on how the game should look. I can’t go exactly into what it will be, but it’s going to be a fair bit different.

“The way that he used to play was tough, and I think we’re trying to bring that back into the Port Adelaide way but also playing really smart while we do it.”

Beyond a change in defensive structure, Port Adelaide are also preparing reinforcements, with tall forward Todd Marshall expected to make the shift down back in 2026.

Returning from a ruptured Achilles suffered in pre-season of 2025, Marshall has spent the off-season training in a defensive role, with ball use out of the back half marked as a priority under Josh Carr.

“I don’t know where it’ll end up when we get to Round 1, but at the moment he has been training a fair bit as a defender,” Rozee said.

“It’s been really nice; we’ve probably had some tall guys in the past that have some really good strengths, but ball use probably wasn’t one of them back there from our tall defenders.

“Having him down there with his footy smarts has been really nice, and when I’ve been down there at half back, his leadership qualities have been outstanding. You forget what he can do because he’s been away for so long, but he’s going to be massive for us this year.”

Josh Carr’s first hit out as solo coach is set for February 20th, as the Power take on cross-town rivals Adelaide in a pre-season contest at Alberton Oval.

Listen to Rozee's full interview below: