The Agenda Setters on Channel 7 Caroline Wilson on the friction between the AFL and Port Adelaide – on Seven and 7plus.
Wilson: “I can tell you that as we sit here tonight, the bad blood between the Port Adelaide Football Club and head office is tangible. Port Adelaide are furious. The AFL are contemptuous of both Zak Butters and of the Port Adelaide Football Club. They continue to say that Zak Butters has changed his version of events too many times to be a credible witness, whereas they say their man, the umpire Nick Foot was entirely credible. Port Adelaide’s frustration is on many levels, not least because their head judge, the chair of the Tribunal, Renee Enbom, and at least one tribunal member, Jason Johnson, had to leave straight after the verdict was delivered, so Port can’t talk to us tonight.
“We briefly heard from Zak Butters, but they can’t even decide whether they’re going to appeal, because they still don’t know exactly why Zak Butters was found guilty. They feel aggrieved on behalf of their Brownlow medallist, also Ollie Wines, who was clearly disbelieved by the tribunal. Now, last night, we opened the show with me saying, I cannot believe we are going to a tribunal. Why have these two parties not sat down and attempted to reach some form of mediation? I can tell you now that all day yesterday, some form of outcome was attempted. The AFL wanted to manage the outcome, but their outcome only involves Zak Butters admitting he’d made a mistake in agreeing to pay the fine. Zak Butters refused. This morning, while Port were training, they, of course, have a game this Saturday against Hawthorn in Melbourne. Now, this is obviously not going to affect Zak, but it’s because he hasn’t been suspended. So if they appeal, they can maybe put that off. But they say that’s going to be tricky, because they’ll need a point of law. This morning, while Zak Butters was training, poor Adelaide went back to the AFL, another conversation, and said surely, the two men can sit down and have a conversation. And maybe they will agree to disagree, and there will be a joint press conference or whatever, and both will agree that, I mean, Port’s version was we’re not saying Nick Foot is lying, but we believe Nick Foot misheard Zak Butters.
“There was a lot of evidence to suggest it might have been hard to hear at that time. Nick Foot did not want a bar of it. He would not meet with Zak Butters, by that time, too late, wanted to go to the tribunal. These arguments went on until 2:00pm today, and then the outcome unfolded. The AFL believed that not only did Zak change his quote from what he told Xander Maguire on Channel 7 after the game. There was a text message yesterday in which a different quote, according to the AFL, came out, and then, of course, his evidence today.”
Cornes: “Do we know who that text message was sent to?”
Wilson: “I don’t know, I do know that, Zak Butters is saying, I know what I didn’t say, but I can’t tell you exactly what I said. Ollie Wines said something similar. I can’t tell you exactly what he did say, but I know what he didn’t say. The AFL is saying that that is just not good enough, and they don’t believe Zak Butters. So, essentially, head office, and its tribunal, has basically said Zak Butters is lying.”
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The Agenda Setters on Channel 7 Caroline Wilson on the friction between the AFL and Port Adelaide
