Vision comes to light of sneaky Zak Butters act he copied from Nick Daicos

Yahoo

14 hours ago

Nick Daicos has found a new admirer in the AFL after new footage emerged of Zak Butters copying a cheeky move of the Collingwood midfielder's in his side's win over Carlton. Blues fans were left frustrated after Thursday night's horror 50-point away loss to Port Adelaide with Michael Voss facing plenty of pressure to stop the form slump.
And in the aftermath of the demolition, Butters spoke about a cheeky tactic he developed from his Collingwood rival. On Channel 7, it was revealed after the game that Butters had made a U-turn after looking like he was being substituted to remain on the field.
The idea of this was to avoid his tag from Carlton. And Butters admitted he got the idea from watching Daicos lat year. "I watch a lot of vision during the week, I watch lot of footy. I prepare for everything...I actually got it off Nick Daicos. I saw him do it a couple of times last year."
And vision has emerged of Butters pulling off the stunt. Butters ran off the field with his tag Alex Cincotta following him across the white line. However, Butters made a quick dash back on the field having not been subbed with Cincotta taking a seat on the bench.
The move Zak Butters learnt from Nick Daicos 👀@cleary_mitch https://t.co/LNDnAlzicy pic.twitter.com/UHiHYjg0nj
— 7AFL (@7AFL) July 1, 2025
This gave Butters an extra few minutes without being pressured to make his mark on the game. Only minutes later Butter took an easy mark in the centre of the field with no Carlton player picking him up.
Reporter Mitch Cleary claimed Butters was 'running free' against Carlton in a move that could become more regular when players are being tagged. Against Carlton the 24-year-old midfielder had 30 disposals and 19 handballs in a stellar performance.
Butters admitting he likes to learn from his rivals was welcomed by AFL fans with Daicos one of the favourites to take out the Brownlow Medal in 2025. Butters has been enjoying a strong season, but his side remain outside finals footy in 10th place.
"Zak Butters, being tagged by Alex Cincotta, pretended to come off the ground, Cincotta was then taken off, but Butters did a u-turn and is now running free." - @cleary_mitch Zak Butters playing 4D chess ♟️ #AFLPowerBlues pic.twitter.com/kdeng4UPBk
— 7AFL (@7AFL) June 26, 2025
Port Adelaide's thumping win took them four points above Carlton who now sit in 11th on the ladder with their finals hopes dangling by a thread. And Blues general manager of football Brad Lloyd claimed he is aware Voss and him are targets.
Asked if he and Voss would be at the club next year, Lloyd replied: "I'm unsure of that. "We will just stick at it and keep going to work," he told reporters at Melbourne airport on Friday. It's for others to judge. We have been going at it for a little while now and we have had some good times and some down times like we are now."
Voss' contract runs till the end of 2026, but faces pressure if his side doesn't make the top eight. Incoming chief executive Graham Wright is known for making changes and will take over from Brian Cook at the end of a season. In ugly scenes after the loss, the club's headquarters were tagged overnight with graffiti to "sack the board".
Carlton president Rob Priestley has backed coach Voss to remain in charge at least until the end of the season, but captain Patrick Cripps has also weighed-in. Cripps said the noise was certainly growing louder at Carlton, but he was ready to find out who was willing to fight for the club.
'The thing I really try to focus on as well with the other leaders is making sure we're all on the same page but also trying to keep the energy high … as much as you can, you've got to try and block the external out and it can be loud,' Cripps said on the new vodcast On The Inside.