Tue Sep 17 06:20:54 UTC 2024: ## Port Adelaide’s Butters Ready to Battle Through Pain for Preliminary Final

Port Adelaide vice-captain Zak Butters has declared he will once again play through pain, despite suffering rib injuries, to be ready for the upcoming preliminary final against Sydney. Butters, a dual All Australian, was substituted during Port’s qualifying loss to Geelong due to the injury but played through it in their semi-final win against Hawthorn.

While he was limited to non-contact drills at training this week, Butters insists he is confident in his recovery and ready to face the Swans. “I got another training session under the belt today, and a really good one by the boys again,” he said. “I was able to get through and definitely tick some more boxes and get some more confidence in my body.”

Butters acknowledged the possibility of facing Sydney’s hard tagger James Jordon, who has effectively shut down opponents this season. “He’s a pretty hard player to play against,” Butters said. “Whether he comes to me or Hornet (Jason Horne-Francis) or Connor (Rozee), I feel like there’s a few in there he could go to at different stages. As a team, we … have looked at that already and that’s something that we’ll be expecting so if they choose to do that, we’ll be ready.”

Butters’ output has been affected by close tagging in the past, but he has learned from the experience of Brisbane’s dual Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale, a frequent target of tight tagging. “To see Lachie Neale deal with it again on the weekend, he’s the one I’ve looked up to throughout the year and probably the last three or four years,” Butters said. “I have had a few little chats with him over time and he’s given me some good advice. So I feel like I’ve got some good plans in place and some good people in my corner to help me out.”

Despite the pain and potential matchup with Jordon, Butters remains determined. “But at the end of the day, it’s up to me to beat them and for me to go there and compete and fight hard and help my team win.”

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