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Industry insiders, who wished to remain anonymous to speak freely, expect Hawthorn – having failed to snare Zach Merrett last year – and Carlton to also pursue Butters.
The Bombers could accrue even more draft and salary-cap capital to trade for Butters should they allow Merrett to leave, and opt to use the picks they get in return for the veteran midfielder on the Power champion.
They have also made a bid for Hawthorn star Josh Weddle, who is off contract.
Back to his best: Darcy Parish has recovered from injury and is ready to roll in the Bombers’ midfield.Credit: Getty Images
Merrett, along with teammate Nick Bryan, was absent from the team’s photoshoot because of illness, but a club spokesman said he is expected back in time for Friday’s intra-club clash.
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“Since day one in November and December, he was back into it. Whatever happened in the off-season has been put behind us. We are all connected back together again. As always, he is training fantastically, and is leading from the front,” Duursma said.
Butters was spotted playing golf with Darcy Parish and Sam Durham in October last year, adding to the intrigue over his future – and potential shift to the Bombers.
On Tuesday, Merrett and Bryan missed a solid morning training session in Melbourne’s heat in which Parish continued to show he is tracking towards a round-one return.
In a season when the Bombers hope to rebound from a disappointing six wins (15th spot) in 2025, they hope Parish, now 28, can have a strong influence in the midfield. He managed only three games last season because of a series of calf problems.
“He is looking back to his best form of 2021 when he was an All-Australian. He is looking as good as that at the minute, which is fantastic for him, and it’s only going to help the team as well,” Duursma said.
Nate Caddy (20 goals last season) has also impressed, with Duursma insisting the flamboyant young forward was ready to “take another step”.
The Bombers finished last year with a whopping 16 injured players on their list, but this has eased greatly under new fitness and conditioning chief Mat Inness.
Versatile forward Kyle Langford is confident his soft-tissue issues have been eliminated after spending time at Aspetar, a private sports medicine facility in Doha.
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