On the first day back of pre-season training, Sam Butler did something that even three months ago would have seemed impossible.
Not only was he out there ready to train for the first day of preseason, but he was able to take part in the six minute time trial, holding off one of Hawthorn’s hardest runners in Karl Amon, which is no mean feat.
While most would be stunned to see a player return so quickly and to such a high standard in terms of fitness, those people don’t know the drive that Butler has to make it at the highest level.
Casting attention back towards the end of April, for a day meant to be engulfed in celebration of Hawthorn’s prodigal son, Buddy Franklin, was instead a cruel reminder of the brutality of AFL football.
Coinciding with Franklin officially returning to the Hawthorn fold for the first time since his record-breaking move interstate in the 2013 offseason, 21 kilometres away Sam Butler’s 2024 season was about to come to an abrupt halt in the reserves.
Butler was out on the park at Fenjiu Stadium (formerly known as Box Hill City Oval), trying to impress head coach Sam Mitchell for a recall.
Coming off a stellar preseason (his first uninterrupted one since arriving at the club), Butler had finally been given a runway to show off his incredible fitness and running power; traits that would suit the new style of play the Hawks were looking to employ.
Butler had featured in Hawthorn’s team in rounds four and five before being sent back to Box Hill to hone his forward craft and build his confidence.
It was here tragedy ultimately struck.
Midway through the third quarter, Butler went down with an incredibly gruesome injury, ultimately resulting in a badly broken leg.
Play came to a screeching halt as an ambulance was called to provide relief for a break that had left his toes touching his knee – a moment that stunned the brown and gold faithful in attendance.
He went to hospital and had surgery to repair the break, before battling through a difficult first month post-operation. However this was just the beginning for Butler’s recovery, as he was then faced with the long and often lonely road to recovery that one must undertake to get back out on the park playing the game they love.
Ultimately, Butler was given a nine to twelve month recovery time-frame; something sure to be a difficult pill to swallow, especially for a player hoping to establish himself in the senior team after playing 19 games in his first two seasons at Bunjil Bagora.
However this disheartening reality was simply just another hurdle for Butler to overcome, and overcome he did. Jumping head first into his recovery at the footy club, Butler began with strength and conditioning work in the gym before graduating to the Alter-G treadmill, a machine that helped on a significant milestone in his return to fitness: running for the first time since that unfortunate event that cruelled him of his 2024 season.
Talking Hawks were there at Bunjil Bagora on the 2nd of August when Butler made his first appearance to outdoor training, walking laps of the oval while wearing a heavy bandage on his left leg that covered the massive lump still present post his major surgery.
Still limping, and with a much slower gait than all were accustomed to seeing, Butler was just happy to be back out there amongst the boys and not in the rooms upstairs, away from the action.
Fast forward to Monday the 25th of November, exactly 211 days after the horrific injury, and Butler was ready to go for day one of 2025 preparation and didn’t disappoint.
Butler’s hard work and effort paid off massively as he was not only able to be out there last Monday for the first session, but also able to participate alongside the main group for the running session and circle work, before moving on to some one-on-one defensive work with Will Day, who is also on the journey back to full fitness.
Butler’s recovery is a testament to not only his drive and willingness to do the hard yards, but also to the High Performance and Strength and Conditioning teams, who have enabled him to not only make a full recover, but also promote performance of an incredibly high level so early on in the preseason.
There is no denying that seeing Sam Butler back to his dashing best after his horrendous injury will be spurring the rest of the team on this preseason, as they know that Butler won’t be content with plying his trade in the seconds, and will instead be doing his absolute best to get back on the MCG for the Hawks in 2025 and add to his 19 game total in the AFL.
