Port Adelaide general manager of football Ben Rutten spoke with the media on Wednesday afternoon, the day after the club’s John Cahill Medal event.
Rutten reviewed his learnings on his first year in the role, where he believes Jason Horne-Francis can go with his career, and the possibilities for a potential Zak Butters trade.
Rutten on what he learned in his first year in the role
“I think some of the fundamentals. I've been at a few different football clubs and really successful football clubs. There are a lot of similarities in terms of fundamentally, I think what makes great clubs is great people. That's certainly here at Port Adelaide. Strong alignment, a clear vision moving forward. It's all those key pillars, I suppose, of successful football clubs, I can certainly see them here at Port Adelaide. It's been a great year, for myself and for the group, there’s been a lot of learning. It was a pretty new football department when I came in and when I started. So it's about getting that group the cohesion and putting that group together and making some really strong foundations for us moving forward.”
Rutten on injuries and opportunity this year
“Certainly that availability has been disappointing. We would have liked more availability of our best players, but certainly what we've seen from that and the opportunities it's given us is some exposure to some of our list that we may not have had the opportunity to see. I think there's been seven debutants plus we added some players from other clubs as well. So being able to see opportunity for not only players to be able to play at AFL level, but it's also the exposure of Jase Burgoyne through the midfield, Joe Richards as well. Being able to see what that might look like in the future and add to some depth, which is going to be important for us as well. So whilst you’d always love your best team on the park all the time, it has given us the opportunity to get better picture of where our list at and what it might look like moving forward.
“There have been some impact injuries, but certainly we're reviewing that. That's what the last week and this week's about from a whole performance point of view. It's not just the medical, our coaching, our game style, our scheduling, but medical and our physical performance is certainly part of that as well. And we're not going to be putting our head in the sand and saying they're all impact injuries, so there's nothing we can do. We're certainly wanting to look at: is there anything we could be doing? How can we evolve our program? We want to run best practice in the way we're developing and physically preparing our players. So we're looking at all areas about how we can add and be better.”
Rutten on soft tissue injuries across the league
“I think we've been pretty good this season comparatively with our soft tissues. But absolutely, we're looking at what the way we play, the way we train, the way we prepare. There's no doubt having a younger squad does put you probably at greater risk, where you don't have that training history, and still building that body to be able to understand the rigors of the game. So that's certainly an element that can put you at a greater risk of those sort of injuries. But we're going to be looking at what we can do and how we can be the best across the competition down here.”
Rutten on Zak Butters’ prospective trade
“It's pretty complex. It’s not just as simple as a straight swap or whatever these days, and there’s still probably another month to go until that that trade window really opens up. So there's a lot to play out, and we don't have clarity, we don't have certainty on what that looks like. That’s just where it’s at. The plan is to get what's in the best interest of the Port Adelaide Footy Club. And there's a range of things of what that could look like: players, picks, matching, compensations, all that. That’s all on the table for us. So as I said, there’s a bit to play out in terms of time and different scenarios and options, so we're working through that.
“There’s a world where lots of things can happen. That’s the reality of it and we don't know where it's at and what it might look like (yet). (Matching an offer is) an option. We've got capacity to do that. We've been planning for Zak to be retained at the football club, and that's been a big part of this year, is making sure that we put ourselves in the best position to retain Zak. It hasn't gone that way, so we're looking at what that looks like.
Rutten on Butters’ value
“Zak’s a star of the competition. He's a three-time All Australian, three-time best and fairest here at the football club. I think everyone's well aware of Zak’s standing in the game and what he's capable of, and he's got a lot of footy left in him. Who knows what that's going to look like? And that that is as honest as I and we can be around that.”
“It’s far more complicated than (just saying how much we think he’s worth). I mean, I think we've seen that in the past. There's comparisons about other deals, and there's always things that come in, things that go out. The NGA and the father-son and the matching of bids and things being pushed out. They're all the factors that that we need to consider with what the deal looks like.”
Rutten on Butters’ notifying the club of his wish to exercise free agency
“I think it was the Monday, the day after that last round is sort of when we spoke with Zak and obviously the longer the year goes on and he hasn't committed and re-signed, that percentage of chance that he was going to want to get back to Victoria increases but the way Zak conducted himself throughout the year, his relationships with the players, the coaches, his relationship with Josh has always been really strong, his commitment and to the club, and even to the point where he was trying to get up and play that last game. I think that just typifies, I think, what the club means to Zak and what Zak means to us as well. So we always want to make sure that that we're creating the best environment for all our players.
“Zak was a captain of our footy club with Connor going down and that's the standing he's got in the club and the way he did it and the way he led, we couldn't have asked for any more. The players are very professional these days, and I understand that their responsibility to the game and to the club and to their teammates, and that runs really strong with players.”
Rutten on ‘replacing’ Butters on field
“It's difficult, and we're not going to be able to replace Zak like-for-like, Zak’s a unique player like all of our players are and it'll be around how we collectively look to replace him. We've seen the development of some of our players, I mentioned Jase Burgoyne and Joe Richards even the performance of Jason Horne-Francis throughout, in particular the back end of the year, and obviously winning the best and fairest last night. That’s how you replace any player, is with a collective. An old coach once said to me, "when you retire or when you leave a footy club, it's like taking your hand out of a bucket of water. That's how quickly you get replaced.” In a lot of respects, that is true. He'll leave a hole, but he'll also leave fertile ground for other guys to step up and step in and grow. So that's certainly the way we're going to be looking at it.”
Rutten on improving the list
“I think as I mentioned before, I think the year's given us a great opportunity to look at our list as a whole and get some exposure to guys at AFL level, so it's given us a clearer picture on where we think guys might grow and stretch into. And look, we need to improve our list. There's no doubt about that. Over the next couple of years, in particular, given probably the lack of round one and round two draft picks we've had over the last few years, we'll certainly be targeting hopefully the top end of the draft over the next couple of years and bring in some really strong talent onto our list. We'd love to improve every area of our list and improve our depth as well. Any players that we think can improve our list, we'll be looking at it.
“There's a lot of work going under the bridge over the next six or eight weeks. And whether it be the trade stuff we've got, looking at our draft, where we land with our draft picks, all that. So a lot to play out. As a priority, I think over the next couple of years is going to be trying to attack the top end of the draft. But that that also doesn't eliminate us if we think we can top up through trade and free agency, we'll certainly be looking at that.”
Rutten on Jason Horne-Francis
“He's been really impressive. Coming in from another club, you have an idea and a bit of a sense of some of the players. But Jason's been super impressive in terms of his on-field football ability, the way he trains. I think the thing that's probably stood out more so is his team first mentality. The way he plays, the way he embodies the values that Josh is really driving and leading, and the way he just wants to make his teammates better. I think that's been really strong, and the way he stepped up and grown, not only on the field, but from a leadership point of view as well, has been really significant. I think there's great opportunity for Jason along with Connor and Willem Drew and Mitch Georgiades, that group of players as leaders to really step up and take this football club forward. That's been that's been something that's really stood out. His on-field performance and to win the best and fairest last night, as you said, it'd be great to get him a full pre-season and see what he's capable of doing and it means a lot to us as a football club.
“Certainly, his leadership will grow (in 2027). What position, what title (we don’t know yet), but his influence amongst the group is significant, and he'll continue to grow that. And when you hear your best players talking about their desires to lead better, to influence more of their teammates to really get behind the coach and the coaching group, that's all you can ask for. And we've got a great role model there in Jason.”
Rutten on Dougie Cochrane
“He's been great. His enthusiasm, he's eager. He's got a great work ethic. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see a lot of him playing over the course of this season. I think this year's been really significant for him, and to be able to get in and spend some time, build some relationships, and get a bit of a step ahead for what that might look next year. So he's a great young man.
“That year in the system is significant, for a whole range of things, whether it be relationship, whether it be physically, learning some of the language, the game style, so he's that's been a certainly a leg up.”
Rutten on coaching changes
“We've had a pretty significant change over the past 12 months. This time last year, Josh was certainly, in terms of the AFL coaching team, rebuilding that. Some new faces in there. Andy Collins, we certainly respect his decision to get back to Victoria, but he leaves a footprint here in the work he did with Josh, in particular early. He was probably the first appointment that Josh and the football club made in that area. So help support Josh through that initial phase, whether it be game style-wise, culturally, that was really significant. Whether we replace that role directly, it's the person that's going to make the biggest difference. There's not Andy Collins just you know growing on trees. So we're looking at how we can best add to our program as a whole. It starts with the people, their skill set, how they can complement the rest of our group. Our development area will be a focus for us. Matty Lobbe, Jacob Surjan, Cam Sutcliffe have all been fantastic servants for our club as both players and coaches, and we certainly thank them for their contribution to the club. It’s kind of our focus, skewing towards development, that’s certainly going to give us that opportunity just to rethink a little bit the way we do things and have a look at what people might be the best ones we can bring in and complement the rest of our coaches.”
Rutten on the SANFL
“The comments around the SANFL certainly aren't directed around this year and our performance this year. That's certainly on us, and I think there's an extension when we get injuries at AFL level. The flow on is down to our SANFL team. We can certainly look at that about what we can do and how we can improve that, how we can best support those the development of our guys, not only at AFL level but also at the SANFL level as well.”
