Butts on the Move -Big League '97 - Adam Hawse
Its a quote not listed in any front rowers handbook. "I have this romantic image of playing in the mist shrouded ovals of Northern England." says Newcastle hard man Anthony Butterfield. Its not that he detests playing on the flint hard grounds in Australia - where he has forged a career as the anchorman of the Newcastle pack - he just has this dream of flopping on a spongy English pitch, with the folling mist providing a picturesque backdrop. "As a kid I used to watch those Tests between England and Australia, and think how great it would be playing in the gloom." Butterfield says.
Significantly, he believes he may have to start buying some warm clothes.. that his dream might be pretty close to becoming a reality as whispers grow of a compromise between the ARL and Super League. With the Knights and Mariners obvious partners in any merger, the 31 year old reckons there is little chance of an old stager being given preference over a promising rookie. On the strenght of his form this season, many would beg to differ.
However, there is one hitch about a move to the Old Dart in 1998. By the time pre season training starts for the next English Season, Butterfield and wife Kristen are hoping to have completed their new house at Dudley Beach. They are currently in the process of selling their suburban New Lambton home in preparation for the big move. If he goes to England, his stay at Dudley will be a short one... if he stays in Australia to soak up the sunshine at his new home, he could be beaten to an English contract by a flood of fleeting, unwanted Australians. "Yeah, there are a few decisions to be made. I'm wary of a truce. We've got 35 blokes here and there are 35 across the road. Why would they keep me ahead of some young bloke?" Butterfield muses.
For the moment, he's just trying to sell his house and concentrate on maintaining his rousing early season form. Things looked bright on the home front when RLW went calling recently, with potential buyers already looking over the abode. When he bought the house six years ago, it was slightly shabby to say the least. Now it stands as one of the most attractive in the area. So proud is he, that Butterfield has a large pinboard with a series of photo's showing all the renovations he has made. Still, the time has come to move on. Butterfield jokes that half the reason for the move is to give his young son, Isaac and Rory some male company. "We have good neighbours, but they all have girls - the boys will probably grow up as 'new ag' guys if they stay here." Butterfield laughs. At Dudley Beach, Buttferfield will have neighbours such as Harragon, Robbie O'Davis, Michael Hagan, Brad Godden and Mark Sargent.
A local bowling club has already been pinpointed as a meeting place for the Knights Connections. But the veteran of 122 first grade games for Penrith and Newcastle admits the day he leaves his current address will not be easy. We've put alot of time into it and thats what I've liked most about it - being able to turn something shabby into something nice." he said.
Butterfield has been overseer of a similar change at the Knights: from a simple bash and barge side in the early years to a genuine premiership threat in 97. A Newcastle premiership could snap Butterfields English dream. With a premiership medal having pride of place at his new home, he'd probably be happy just turning out for the Dudley Beach Dugongs.

Butts on spitting charge -  19 Sep 1997,  Newcastle Herald 
Knights prop Tony Butterfield has vehemently denied allegations by Manly players that he deliberately spat on them in last Sunday's spiteful Optus Cup major qualifying final at the Sydney Football Stadium. `I've a vague recollection of it accidentally happening during the game. They reckon I spat on one of their boys and I said it was an accident. If they can't accept that, what can you do?" 
Knights prop Tony Butterfield denies deliberately spitting on Manly's Terry Hill and some of his team-mates.`A lot of the blokes from both sides get on pretty well but when the game starts we just want to tear each other's heads off.'  Butterfield tries to explain what happens on the field when the Knights play Manly.`We're pretty good mates with blokes like Terry Hill and Mark Carroll and the others but it must be the competitive spirit, we just start belting the hell out of each other.' 

No Butts  -  Tough front rower Tony Butterfield was reprimanded by referee Eddie Ward when he packed in "too hard" in a scrum against manly at marathon.  "I'm a front rower..  thats what I do."  The dialogue was picked up clearly on wards microphone for thousands of TV viewers.

Doing it with feeling - 1997
Tony Butterfield - On the farewell, when Knights fans stood along 30 km of the F3 to wish the side well when they left for sydney the day before the grand final. "The four of us who have been here from the start - Paul Harragon, Marc Glanville, Steve Crowe and I - were in tears.  People wer lined along the freeway.  there were kids and woman, men, young and old.  And they weren't just cheering us, there was a passion there..  you could see it in their faces.  We started off on a shoestring budget all those years ago, but i always knew this would happen.  I just wasn't sure when."

No buts, Original's still the best  22 Sep 1997, Newcastle Herald
Knights original Tony Butterfield yesterday joined a select group when he was named Excalibur Club Players' Player for the second year in succession. Butterfield, humbled by the award, is one of three players in the club's 10-year history to win the award twice. Fellow `originals' Marc Glanville and Robbie McCormack have each won the title, which is voted on by their team-mates, three times. `It's humbling to be recognised by your fellow players who give as much every game as you do,' the tough-as-teak prop told the Excalibur Club luncheon.   Butterfield received $2000 as well as the trophy for the award.Butterfield's award was presented by former Australian representative John Raper, who was a guest of the club along with former NSW Rugby League president Kevin Humphreys. His win continued the domination of the award by forwards. 
 

"We provide the greatest nursery of rugby league in the world and have the largest and most passionate supporter base in the land. To play with another club was never an option. My heart is with the club and to be able to continue on playing with the calibre of players that I am playing with at the moment is what every young or old footballer can only dream about."

Butts to ignore Manly's infamous trash talk -  23 Sep 1997,  Newcastle Herald
Knights enforcer Tony Butterfield will ignore any attempts by Manly players to try and bait him in Sunday's Optus Cup grand final at the Sydney Football Stadium. Butterfield was accused of deliberately spitting on several Manly players, including centre Terry Hill and winger John Hopoate, in the Sea Eagles' 27-12 win over the Knights in their semifinal meeting 10 days ago. The accusations did not surface until a few days after the game and were seen by most observers as a knee-jerk reaction to the one-match suspension on Manly lock Nik Kosef for a clipping tackle on pivot Matthew Johns.
The Sea Eagles are renowned for their trash-talking and intimidatory tactics, and Butterfield is expecting a verbal barrage in Sunday's grand final. `I would imagine that they'll make reference to it early on but my strategy is to simply ignore them and focus on football,' the 31-year-old prop said. `They're notorious for the way they carry on and if they're true to form, then no doubt they'll bring it up. `But I've forgotten about it. `It's a non-issue as far as I'm concerned and it's not relevant to my performance. `If they want to bring it up on the weekend, that's up to them but if they think they're going to get some mileage out of me they're mistaken.' 
Hill had `no comment whatsoever' about what he said after that match and did his best to play down predictions of a grudge match on Sunday. `It's just going to be a great game to play in,' Hill said. `It's going to be a tough contest, they always are, but we've got to focus on what we've got to do and not worry about Newcastle. `We want to concentrate on leaving 13 players on the field. It's a grand final but it's just another game to us and that's how we're going to approach it.' 
Butterfield's captain and front-row partner, Paul Harragon, said it was important not to carry any mental baggage from past games into the decider. Harragon was confident Butterfield would not let it affect his preparation. `It's something that Tony's had to deal with and without a doubt I'd be lying to say he wasn't disappointed about it,' Harragon said. `But that's no sort of mental attitude to carry into the game and he's professional and big enough not to worry about those things that have happened a week ago. `He's just thinking about the grand final and I'm sure all the boys have got faith in him that that's all behind him now.' 
Knights coach Malcolm Reilly said he would instruct his players not to allow Manly's sledging to get to them. `I'll be explaining to them that there's no value in engaging in anything less than playing the game,' Reilly said. `We've just got to get on with playing football.' 

Butts offers Jersey to Carroll -  28 Sep 1997,  Illawarra Mercury 
Shattered Manly prop Mark Carroll rejected an offer to swap jumpers with Newcastle forward Tony Butterfield in the Sea Eagles' dressing room after yesterday's epic battle. Carroll had a torrid running battle with Butterfield and Knights' captain Paul Harragon throughout the Knights' 22-16 win, triggered by three bone-crunching tackles from Harragon in the opening six minutes. Two of them, on Manly captain Geoff Toovey and second-rower Daniel Gartner, looked high while the third shook Carroll so much he could not play the ball properly. Butterfield was accused of spitting on Carroll and Manly centre Terry Hill two weeks ago and the two front-rowers shook hands in the Manly room. "Where's your jumper, big fella?" Butterfield said to Carroll. "Do you want to swap it for one of these?" Carroll politely declined. 

Knights better than '97: Butts
Newcastle skipper Tony Butterfield rates his Knights as more talented than the side who won the 1997 Australian Rugby League grand final. But Butterfield admits his team's big flaw is lack of experience in finals football, something the club has addressed by calling in a psychologist. "There's probably more talent in this team," Butterfield replied yesterday when asked to compare the 2000 team with his 1997 ARL premiership side. "The team's probably got a lot more potential regarding ability but probably mentally we need to be a little tougher. In the '97 team we had Chief (prop Paul Harragon) and (lock Marc) Glanville and some old stagers who knew what they were doing.

No Buts about it, Tony's a Test must -  29 Apr 1998,  Newcastle Herald
No ifs or buts, why wasn't Newcastle Knights forward Anthony Butterfield packing down alongside Paul Harragon in the Australian Test side last Friday night. There is no doubt he is the form forward in the National Rugby League premiership but he isn't one of the `name' players. His heart, drive and determination would have spurred on the Aussies, just as it has the Knights for the past 11 seasons. Butterfield mightn't be a genius, although he is on the way to joining a select group of front-rowers to complete a university degrees, but he is certainly bright enough to realise he's one of the unluckiest players when it comes to representative football. They don't come tougher or more determined than Butts, who won his place as a Newcastle Knights original in 1988 by tackling inaugural coach Allan McMahon on the footpath after his interview. At 183cm and 103kg, he may not be the biggest forward going around, but there is little doubt, on his form this season and his other 140-odd games in first grade, he is one of the best. Yet season after season he has been left out of the really big games, the City-Country, State of Origin and Test matches, where his will of iron and brawny body would have been most appreciated. Butts has never been a player to back away from any problem. He had strong feelings about the way McMahon was coaching the team back in 1991 and told him so, not long before the coach resigned. It was also Butts who put forward the case for the Knights' players to travel away a day or so early for matches, even though the club coffers were thin and the management was penny pinching. He even travelled the world against the advice of Knights management in 1989 while his team-mates prepared for the following season. Probably his only real mistake in 11 seasons with the club was listening to advice from the management and pleading guilty to a kneeing charge in 1994 when he was suspended for five matches, something he still regrets. Big Butts had put a bit of knee pressure on Balmain fullback Tim Brasher's head and was told he would cop a good deal if he pleaded guilty, but suffered the humiliation of five weeks off the park with no case for appeal. He then broke his hand to miss the remainder of the season. 
Butts has filled all positions in the Knights pack over the 11 seasons, even at hooker with Mark Sargent and Peter Johnston as props when the Knights had the scariest front-row in the Winfield Cup and as lock against Great Britain. The 1983 Australian schoolboys representative did make the Kangaroos train-on squad in 1990 after playing for City Firsts in 1989, but had a lean time in 1991 and 1992 because of injuries and illness, playing only two first-grade games in 1991 and running on three times as a replacement the following season.  In 1993 he had to overcome the powerful combination of Sargent and Paul Harragon and the youthful Rodney Howe, who beat him for the Kangaroos prop position last Friday night, for a first-grade spot. 
Butts should be first picked for the State of Origin games on May 22 at the Sydney Football Stadium, June 5 at Suncorp Stadium and back in Sydney on June 19 if the Blues want victory. There is no doubt he will be the workhorse for the Knights against the Brisbane Broncos at Marathon Stadium on Friday night, a situation which he will revel in. 

Butterfield is the ideal replacement - 18 Jun 1998,  Newcastle Herald 
IT has been a long wait but there is no doubt that Tony Butterfield deserves his spot in the NSW squad and a place in Origin history as the oldest debutant for the Blues. I have been an unabashed fan of Butts for a long time and I have got no doubt that the success of the Newcastle Knights can be directly attributed to him and captain Paul Harragon. The irony, and really the whole tragedy of this situation, is that he gets his chance to prove himself at the elite level at the expense of his Knights team-mate. I think fans will get a treat as they watch Butterfield's type of tough, consistent and uncompromising play tomorrow night and I have no doubt he will grasp the chance to play representative football with both hands. Butterfield had a great compliment paid to him when champion footballer Wally Lewis nominated him in his Test side to take on New Zealand two months ago. I know Butterfield will play a vital part in the 17-man squad, and many would have him in the run-on team, but I tend to think that coach Tommy Raudonikis might start him off the interchange bench. 

Last prop falls as Butts cops one week -  01 Jul 1998,  Newcastle Herald 
NEWCASTLE lost their last top-line front-rower last night when Tony Butterfield received a one-match suspension from the National Rugby League judiciary for striking Parramatta's Jason Smith in last Sunday's premiership match. Butterfield pleaded not guilty to striking Smith with his elbow as he carted the ball up and reportedly politely questioned the Eels star's tackling style during the hearing. But the judiciary found Butterfield had a case to answer and suspended him for Saturday night's match against Penrith at Penrith Stadium. The decision left coach Malcolm Reilly without any of his top-line front-rowers for this weekend as Paul Harragon, Glenn Grief and David Lomax are all sidelined with injuries. Another of Reilly's options, Wayne Richards, is out with a 22-game suspension for a positive drug test. The Newcastle coach gave no indication at yesterday's team announcement who would take Butterfield's position in the front row alongside converted second-rower Troy Fletcher. Reilly said young prop Aaron Grainger, who made his first-grade debut off the bench last weekend, and back-rower Daniel Smailes were no certainties to move into the pack from the interchange bench. Reilly expects Grief back from a leg injury for the following weekend's away clash against Western Suburbs and Harragon the subsequent week against St George. At last night's judiciary hearing, Butterfield told the panel of Bob McCarthy, Ron Coote and Darrell Williams that Smith got into an awkward position to make the tackle and it was the Queensland back-rower's fault he was collected on the chin. `I'm not telling him how to tackle because we've all got flaws in our techniques but this time he didn't get it right,' Butterfield said. `Jason appears to be leading with his chin, which is just a touch dangerous. `He gets into a low squatting position and I'm looking to barge through him . . . if my arm hadn't hit him, my head probably would have, given the way he approached me. `When he crouched so low I assumed he would pick a side and drive with his shoulder, but he chose the face-to-face confrontation. `It was an accidental bump, a pure accident.' 

Butts loves his footy  -  4 Mar 1999, Newcastle Herald
It is the thrill of battle that drives Tony Butterfield, not the thought of any personal milestones he may pass with the Newcastle Knights. The chiselled, grizzled prop is five games in arrears of Marc Glanville (188) as the most capped first-grader in the Knights' history. If he stays injury-free, he will also break the 200-game barrier later in the year. But those records mean little to the sole survivor of the first Knights team to run onto Newcastle's International Sports Centre (now Marathon Stadium) way back in 1988. What keeps Butterfield going are the butterflies in his stomach on the morning of a big game; the electrically charged atmosphere of the dressing room five minutes before kick-off; charging into the defensive line with the ball tucked under his arm; banging heads with his opposing front-rower in a scrum; then enjoying a beer with his team-mates after the final siren. `I can't think of anything else a young man would rather do, and I still class myself as a young man,' said Butterfield, who turned 33 last month but is no longer the club's oldest player since the recruitment of hooker Steve Walters.  `Being with the boys and going to the game on a Sunday afternoon in front of 30,000 people, or 110,000 as might be the case this Saturday night, there's nothing else like it.  `It's the teamwork, the goals that you set, the expectations of thirty or forty thousand people as well as your own expectations; it's putting everything on the line. `I've got a lot of years ahead of me in, compared to this, the relative drudgery of whatever I choose to do, so I want to enjoy it for as long as I can.' 
Broken arms and various leg injuries restricted him to only a handful of games in 1992 and 1993. In the long run, those injuries extended his career. Butterfield appreciates the symmetry of Saturday's game against Manly at the massive Stadium Australia. The Sea Eagles were the Knights' first opponents in that pre-season Newcastle Herald Challenge Cup of 1988, played on a hot February afternoon, which began the long-running rivalry between the two proud clubs. There were more than 20,000 at the ISC that day. Almost six times that figure will pack into the Homebush Olympic site on Saturday night and the vast majority will cheer for Newcastle.  `You've got to divorce yourself from all the hype once you're involved and that's what you do, especially in the forwards where you're in the middle of it all,' he said. `But you soak it up, too.  `My personal plan is to get out there, have a look around, say "Wow!", then focus on the job ahead of us.  `It's a discipline you have to employ, to try to narrow your perspective once you're into it, but in saying that it's a once-in-a-lifetime event and I can't wait.' 
The common theory about Butterfield is that he, like long-time front-row partner Paul Harragon, will step down at season's end. But Butterfield's retirement date is not so cut and dried.  `If the younger blokes were running rings around me on the field or at training, I'd be the first one to put my hand up,' he said. `But while ever I still want to contribute and still can contribute, I'll keep playing. `I'm having a ball.' 

Butts leads the pack  -  12 Mar 1999,  Newcastle Herald
Tony Butterfield will captain the Newcastle Knights the only way he knows how - from the front. The flint-hard No.8 replaces Paul Harragon as the Knights' leader for their 1999 Marathon Stadium debut against the Parramatta Eels. Harragon has succumbed to a groin strain suffered in last Saturday's historic double-header 41-18 win over Manly at Stadium Australian. Butterfield beat mercurial halves Matthew and Andrew Johns for the captaincy. `It's an honour to be named captain, particularly for our first home game,' Butterfield. `I hope the crowd get right behind us and make some noise . . . it's a very important game.' `The captaincy won't change my game. It's easy to captain a side which has the calibre of player and the experience of this team.'

The hero of the battlefield and we call him Mr Butts leads the pack -  12 Mar 1999,   Newcastle Herald 
INSPIRATIONAL prop Tony Butterfield will captain the Newcastle Knights the only way he knows how ? from the front. The flint-hard No.8 replaces Paul Harragon as the Knights' leader for their 1999 Marathon Stadium debut against the Parramatta Eels. Harragon has succumbed to a groin strain suffered in last Saturday's historic double-header 41-18 win over Manly at Stadium Australian. Glenn Grief's crook hamstring has been given the all clear and he will start in the front row, with Jason Temu coming on to the bench. Butterfield beat mercurial halves Matthew and Andrew Johns for the captaincy. `It's an honour to be named captain, particularly for our first home game,' Butterfield. `I hope the crowd get right behind us and make some noise . . . it's a very important game.' Butterfield led the Knights in the 34-33 Country Challenge victory over Parramatta in Tamworth last month. `Matty and Joey (Andrew Johns) are completely devoted to employing the tactics, so I guess Warren Ryan didn't want to add to their responsibilities,' Butterfield said. `The captaincy won't change my game. It's easy to captain a side which has the calibre of player and the experience of this team.' The NSW Origin prop is more concerned with getting over the top of the smash-and-barge Parramatta pack. `It'll be tough without Chief but we've got two quality replacements in Grief and Temu. `It's lucky Chief and I have been around for a while and have a bit of a mortgage on the starting spots. Those two and bench prop Clinton O'Brien are first-grade standard and would start in most sides. `Jason came to us heralded from England. He hasn't had many opportunities, but gets his chance against Parramatta. `He played a full game against them in the Country Challenge and gets another crack at them tomorrow night. `Parramatta weren't too keen to mix it in the forwards in Tamworth. `When you tackle Jason you get hurt and when he makes a tackle you get hurt. `It doesn't matter whether he starts or is on the bench he will play a pivotal role.' The hero of the battlefield and we thank him, Mr Butterfield. 

Butterfield poised to equal record - 03 Apr 1999,  Newcastle Herald 
KNIGHTS warhorse Tony Butterfield will equal fellow foundation player Marc Glanville's record for most first-grade games when he saunters onto the field against Wests at Parramatta Stadium on Monday. Butterfield will line up for his 188th appearance and, barring injury, will have the record to himself when he plays his 189th against St George-Illawarra at Marathon Stadium tomorrow week. 

Butts reaches 188 and still counting  -  5 Apr 1999, Newcastle Herald
Knights prop Tony Butterfield would rather discuss anything about today's game against Wests other than him equalling a club record.  The long-time leader of the pack will play his 188th first-grade game for Newcastle, joining Marc Glanville as their most capped player, but the milestone holds little significance. Butterfield, 33, said 200 first-grade games was something he had always held in higher esteem, `so right now is like a batsman still a dozen runs short of his double-century'.  Despite going in as overwhelming favourites, Butterfield said the Knights were treating the Magpies with nothing but respect. `Everyone in the rugby league intelligentsia outside of this team have been focusing on Wests and their form compared to other teams and how we're supposed to go out and win easily,' he said. `But they don't have to play them. We do. `It wouldn't matter who we play this weekend, we've highlighted a few areas of our game that we've got to develop our defence and our psychological lulls during games to name a few and we'd be doing that no matter who we were playing.' 

29 May 1999,   Newcastle Herald -  Andrew Johns nominated fellow Knights warhorse Tony Butterfield as Harragon's likely replacement as captain, but did not rule out taking on the job in future. `Probably I have aspirations to take over the captaincy,' he said. `Buttsy is the man for the job now. He has been here long enough and has the credentials to be a great captain. Butterfield, the remaining Knights original from 1988, was confident he could turn the fortunes of the club around when he paid his tribute to Harragon. `Even in the early days when he wasn't captain he was a good man to have on your side. A good man to go into the trenches with,' he said. `On behalf of the boys we were just rapt to be part of his football life.

Penrith can't let Butterfield slip away -  18 Jul 1999,  Sun Herald 
Newcastle defeated North Queensland last month, Cowboys coach Tim Sheens said to Knights captain Tony Butterfield in a good-natured but muttered aside: "Why haven't you retired, you old %@?" Sheens and Butterfield are former Penrith boys and the coach was well aware of the role Butterfield played in beating his team. Another Penrith lad, Panthers coach Royce Simmons, will also know today that if his team can shut down Butterfield at Marathon Stadium, it will cut down the thinking time of the Newcastle playmakers - the Johns brothers. The Knights have improoved immensely now that they have a relatively fit and settled front row but it was probably this equivalent game at Penrith Park which turned around their season. Although the Knights relied heavily on kicks to win that match, they showed a mental toughness, particularly in defence, and nutted out a win. Penrith's problem that day was the old enemy - injury. They were forced to move a winger into fullback and today they are forced to persist with a five-eighth in the position. 
Captain Steve Carter will play fullback. Last week against St George Illawarra he was very effective as a second five-eighth in attack, although he found it a new experience when running the ball upfield. No doubt the Knights will favour the right side of the field to exploit the skill of their right centre Matthew Gidley and tire Penrith's brilliant left centre Ryan Girdler, whose defence is very much underestimated. It is strong but, as with any targeted player, overworking him will blunt his attacking skills. The Johns will need to watch Girdler's intercepts. If their attack is very flat and Penrith adopt an "in your faces" defence, Girdler will add to his impressive number of intercepts. Penrith have defensive problems at the ruck, with St George Illawarra exploiting this last week. Simmons is fully aware his team needs to sharpen its defence but points out he has had too many players banged up at training. "I'm scared to bring out the pads and do defensive drills because I might get someone else injured," he said. "We normally only have 11 blokes fit by Friday each week." If the Panthers can defeat a settled Newcastle away today, it will count as one of their most memorable victories. 

Kangaroo train-on squad to set record straight on testimonial dinner -  23 Jul 1999,  Newcastle Herald
Author: Paul Harragon 
As a rule I never bother responding to newspaper articles, but Stewart Roach's column in Wednesday's Newcastle Herald is an exception. Roach had the hide to suggest the Knights should use some of the money being raised at my testimonial charity dinner next month for the retention of players, and that my retirement had in some way caused the Knights to slight Tony Butterfield. In case you missed it, these were the paragraphs I'm referring to: `The Knights could certainly do with a quick million or two to up the offers to the likes of Darren Albert and Mark Hughes to ensure they stay and to give Anthony Butterfield the remuneration he deserves to play another season instead of dropping out of the game. `Butterfield may have come from Penrith to be the sole remaining Knights original, but his loyalty to the club is such ! he would not go to another NRL club. `The shame of it all is that Butterfield should have been awarded this season as his testimonial year, with a chance to earn a bit of superannuation from a dinner and other promotional gigs. `Paul Harragon put an end to those plans when he took early retirement and all the club's efforts went into promoting the Chief's farewell. Butterfield should be retained and given next year for a testimonial. `Maybe a bit of the cash from the Ray Martin-hosted event next month could be snipped by the Knights and used to retain our local players. `Remember, charity begins at home. Chief could actually sponsor a few players like other businesses have done over the years.' The reason I chose to speak out is because we are trying to do something worthwhile with this testimonial dinner and raffle, something good for the community. It is shaping up as an entertaining night and will raise valuable funds for charities involved. I would like to thank organisations and businesses who have helped out with the night, everyone who bought tickets, and the charities' hard-working people. But let me get back to Stewart Roach. For his benefit, these are the facts: I have made it clear since I signed my last contract with the Knights back in 1995 that 1999 was going to be my last year. My brother and manager Mark and I met the Knights at the start of this year to discuss some plans for this, my last season with the club. We made it clear that all we were interested in as far as testimonial functions were concerned was for a dinner to try to raise some money for charity. Unfortunately my season ended earlier than I had planned but, irrespective of that, August 3 was always going to be the date for the dinner and it was always going to be a charity fundraiser. From that point on, plans for Tony Butterfield's testimonial dinner were always going to be for 2000. Tony Butterfield was always, and is always, going to be at the Knights next year! . For Roach to even suggest that money raised from the charity testimonial dinner should not go to those charities for real problems in our community is disgraceful. Over the years, I have watched Roach drop a few balls of his own in a journalistic sense and in this article he simply did not get the facts right. I'm not being personal, Stewart, just like you say you're not being personal when you comment about the way someone plays their game or administers their sport. But your standard of journalism has deteriorated over the years to the extent where the question must be asked: have you still got what it takes to represent this town to pass on the vital information of our sporting teams and events? With all this talk of testimonials and retirements, it just might be time to organise your own. 

Last man standing; Butterfield reflects on mental battle; Herald. Jul 29, 1999. 
AT various stages of Newcastle's winter of discontent in 1996, Tony Butterfield could see the chance of a lifetime slipping away. He and some of the team's other elder statesmen grumbled among themselves as the talented but under-achieving Knights missed the semi-finals. Having gone within a game of reaching the 1995 grand final, the Knights were expected to go at least one better the following year but the distractions of the ARL-Super League war proved too much for too many to handle. Heads weren't screwed on right and the chemistry was all wrong. Butterfield, 30 years old at the time and supposedly running out of tomorrows, could only shake his head at the wasted opportunity as the semi-finals passed without the boys in blue and red. But the man about to play his 200th first-grade game for the Knights is a firm believer in things happening for a reason. The bitter disappointment of '96 only made the grand final win over Manly a year later sweeter. And the injuries and operations on his knees and arm which erased a couple of years of his career in the early '90s are partly responsible for the fearless front-rower still running around as he closes in on his 34th birthday. The last man standing from the pioneering Knights team of 1988, Butterfield extends his club record for most games played every time he takes the field. But tomorrow night's game against the Broncos, who joined the competition the same year as Newcastle, is a significant milestone. In the build-up to the battle of Brisbane, Butterfield reflected on what it meant to be one of the first Knights and how the club has developed in 12 years. `We were all kids who had been given a chance and we had absolutely nothing to lose,' said Butterfield, now captain. `A lot of us were from out of town but the support from the people of Newcastle was incredible and we felt like fully fledged first-graders. It was a great experience for a group of young men. `We were aware of our shortcomings inexperience and overall class but we focused on defence, taking the team forward and minimising errors.'  He said the addition of Peter Johnston, Mark Sargent, Michael Hagan and Gary Wurth the next year gave the Knights a genuine chance against any opposition. `The high point of that period was the play-off game against Balmain, then we had a little bit of success in the Sevens,' he said. `We also started to see the emergence of the local talent and the juniors like Chief (Paul Harragon) and the Johnsies (Matthew and Andrew Johns) and Adam Muir and they were the blokes who went on to play for Australia.'  Foundation coach Allan McMahon, who quit mid-season, was a casualty of 1991's poor performances but Butterfield said the players were `as much to blame as anyone'.  `The change of coach was a shake-up and it was unfortunate the way things panned out because I really rated Macca,' he said.  David Waite guided the Knights to the 1992 finals but Butterfield, having endured a few frustrating years sorting out knee problems, was a spectator most of the year with a broken arm. He said the arrival of Malcolm Reilly in 1995 was significant because the former British Test coach introduced the players to the idea of mental toughness. `Without denigrating Waitey, it was a turning point in the club's history,' Butterfield said. `Malcolm probably wasn't so much a great football coach per se, but he taught the boys the need for a stronger mental approach to the game.'

The day Butts made a miracle 29 Jul 1999,  Newcastle Herald
From his 199 not out, one game stands alone as the signature match of Tony Butterfield. He might have played better, done more for his club time and again as he has established himself as a truly tough and great competitor, but there is one match that sums up the bloke. It did not happen in the 1997 grand final or in any of the finals encounters that he has battled out with such marauding intensity for the Knights. The day that Tony Butterfield produced the epitome of a man on a mission, a player who would not contemplate defeat, would be a distant memory to many. Hopefully, and in all probability for Butts, it would still loom large. Well, it definitely does for anyone lucky enough to have seen it. It happened way back in 1990, and if Butts can reproduce the feeling, desire and sheer passion he did in the final game of that season, well ... goodbye Brisbane. In fact, the Knights might even ride to another premiership on his back. Exaggeration? No way. 
A case of remembering the good old days through rose-coloured glasses.No way again. What Anthony James Butterfield did that day against Balmain was something extremely special. Something very much worth remembering, something to tell the grand kids about and that is from a fan's point of view, not from the player who did it himself. The scenario was quite simple ? Newcastle had to win at home against the Tigers to force a play-off against the same team. A lot of things have changed for Newcastle since that game. In those days Marathon Stadium was called the International Sports Centre, Ash `The Flash' Gordon was the star of the Knights, Eddie Ward was the ref and 32,217 turned up looking for a miracle. And they got one in the big, hulking shape of Butterfield. Down 8-0 at half-time, the Knights' season was virtually over. But a determined, rampaging Butterfield helped turn it all around. Butterfield led by example and his effort really stirred up his team-mates and the crowd. Two tries to Gordon and Newcastle were in front in the second half, but it took a magic moment from Butterfield to clinch the win. Butts put a beautifully weighted chip kick yes, Butts chip kicked into the Tigers' in-goal and raced through, dived on the ball and scored. The crowd went mad. Seeing the big forward produce such an inspirational feat obviously fired the Knights up to win the match and secure a play-off berth. Because of Butts' magical moment, it was destined to be a Newcastle win. Back in those days there were no video refs, no scrutinising of a try from 100 different angles. And just as well because to this day the majority who saw it reckon he never got close to grounding the ball! But hey, that would have spoiled a truly wonderful memory. Hopefully Butts will produce some more magic tomorrow night in a match with plenty riding on it. 

War kept me going, says Butts  -  31 Jul 1999, Newcastle Herald
Knights captain Tony Butterfield said the ARL-Super League war helped kick-start his career. The 33-year-old hard man believes the extra opportunities for players created by the split allowed him to keep playing. `The lack of faith shown in me by some people at the club spurred me on a bit then Super League came along and that helped me because I probably kept my spot by default,' he said. `From there I kicked on and it helped my confidence, then I won a couple of player-of-the-year awards and it spurred me on again.' Knights insiders say Butts will play one final season next year. 

Butterfield re-signs with Knights -  3 Aug, 1999
It was confirmed today that prop Tony Butterfield will be playing for the Knights in 2000. The Knights captain has signed a 12 month contract with the team. Butterfield recently played his 200th first grade game for the Knights.

Butterfield yields to great love of the Knight life -  04 Aug 1999,  Newcastle Herald& 
NEWCASTLE captain Tony Butterfield has confirmed he will be a Knight for life. The ageless enforcer signed a one-year contract yesterday which will see him through to the end of his 13th and final season with the Knights. Butterfield played his 200th first-grade game for the club last Friday night and that milestone will be recognised at Marathon Stadium on Sunday when the Knights host South Sydney. `To play with another club was never an option,' said Butterfield, the last man standing from the Knights' first crusade of 1988. `My heart is with this club and to be able to continue on playing with the calibre of players that I'm playing with is what every young or old footballer can only dream about. `I feel quite privileged and I look forward to giving my best again next year.' Butterfield, who turns 34 in February, brief! ly wrestled with the idea of retirement but believed he was still willing and able to compete. He also did not want to leave the Knights short of experienced front-rowers, following Paul Harragon's retirement in late May. `There was a concern that we'd lose a lot of experience if 
Chief and I retired at the one time but my major concern was if I felt I couldn't contribute any more,' he said. `There were some thoughts (of retiring) there but to play at this level is a great thrill and always has been. `It's a very tough game, a very fast game, and it's always very difficult to keep your body in order at any age, particularly my age. But I still have the enthusiasm for it, my body's still in good shape, and my family is very supportive of my decision. `For those who have played the game of rugby league, they know how enjoyable it can be and how long you are retired.' Knights chief executive Ian Bonnette said Butterfield's retention was an important day in the club's history. 

Butterfield pitches in -  18 Sep 1999,  Newcastle Herald 
KNIGHTS captain Tony Butterfield has donated the shirt off his back to help send one of the club's rising stars to Great Britain and France with the Australian Schoolboys. Carlson Club scholarship winner Anthony Quinn is one of two young Knights included in the national squad ? the other is Jersey Flegg bench prop Adam Woolnough ? and Quinn is on the fund-raising trail. Butterfield played third grade with Quinn's father Richard at Penrith in the early 1980s and that association led to the veteran prop lending a hand. The blue-and-red jumper Butterfield wore this season will be framed and raffled off in the next few weeks as Quinn tries to raise $2500. The Knights provided the other $2500 of the $5000 each player needs. The club will subtract it from Quinn's contract payments next year. Butterfield is a former Australian Schoolboys representative but was chosen in a non-touring year. `The selection carnival was at Harker Oval and Myuna in 1983 and we were all up here in Newcastle when they named the team,' said Butterfield, an Australian Schoolboys team-mate of budding internationals Andrew Ettingshausen, Greg Alexander and Paul Sironen. `We all thought we were going to Great Britain and France like all the other Australian Schoolboys teams. After they read out the team, they said it was a merit team. Because of some sponsorship thing there was no tour. `We were shattered.' 
 

Butterfield with some Knights legends, Sargent, Harragon and Hagan. All still involved with football and the Knights.

Lessons from a master -  23 Sep 1999,  Newcastle Herald 
Knights captain Tony Butterfield has been a constant source of inspiration to team-mates in 12 years and 200-plus games in the blue and red. The hard-headed prop completed his playing commitments three weeks ago when Parramatta knocked the Knights out of the semi-finals. But Butterfield's presence on the sidelines has been one of the behind-the-scenes secrets of Newcastle's charge to the Jersey Flegg grand final against Canterbury at Stadium Australia. Knights under-19s coach Steve Burraston said Butterfield had passed on invaluable knowledge to the players in the past month. `He's attended just about every training session over the last couple of weeks and he was there on the sideline with us during the warm-up last weekend,' Burraston said. `It's one of those things that does add confidence to the young guys and they did mention that to me. `Tony doesn't interfere in any way but he does have a quiet word to the guys. `He has been there and he's an experienced player, so he can give them a few tips on what to expect and how to deal with nerves and those sorts of things. `He's been a great help to us and a great captain to our club.' Butterfield said he was just doing his bit for moral support. `The young blokes have done well to get this far and it's important we as senior players show our support to the rest of the boys at the club,' Butterfield said. One player reaping the benefits of Butterfield's involvement is front-rower and leader of the pack Mark White. `Butts has been great,' said White, who represented NSW under-19s earlier this year. `He's really taught me a few things about my game that needed improving and there's no-one in the club that's got more experience than him, so you've really got to listen to what he says.' White, from Cessnock, is thinking of nothing but winning on Sunday to help atone for a last-minute loss to Sydney City in the SG Ball grand final two years ago. `I was here in '97 when we made the grand final and lost by a point, so I'd have rather gone out last weekend than go out a loser on Sunday,' he said. `We had a really crash-hot side back then. `At the start of this season, not many people thought this side would have gone as far as we have but we really have improved a lot and you can see in our confidence and the way we've approached our training how much we've come along.' 

Testimony to champ's generosity -  28 Sep 1999,  Newcastle Herald 
THE Newcastle Knights' last `original', Tony Butterfield, hopes to celebrate his testimonial season with the bread-and-butter supporters at a series of functions which will benefit two major Hunter establishments. Butterfield, the 33-year-old veteran prop-forward of more than 200 first-grade premierships matches for the Knights since their inaugural 1988 season, proposed the Rescue Helicopter Service and John Hunter Children's Hospital Research Foundation as the recipients of his benefit trust. The Newcastle Knights have approved the Butterfield Testimonial Trust to celebrate the tough-as-teak prop's 13th, and possibly, final season. The Knights recently re-signed Butterfield for the 2000 season. `I am honoured to be singled out and humbled to be a recipient of such a tribute,' the 183cm, 103kg former Australian schoolboys select squad forward said yesterday. `I thank the Knights for sanctioning a testimonial year and hope it will add more tradition to this club as we continue the type of spirit which lifted us to the 1997 grand final victory.' Dick MacLean, a former tournament director of the Lake Macquarie International Amateur Golf Championship at Belmont, and now director of United Mining Support Services is the convenor of the Tony Butterfield Testimonial Trust. Butterfield played four first-grade games for Penrith before being recruited by inaugural Knights coach Alan McMahon. He is also a student at Newcastle University. 

Butterfield to head new players' union, 09 Dec 1999  Newcastle Herald
NEWCASTLE Knights captain Tony Butterfield has been elected chairman of the NRL Players' Association executive committee. Butterfield was voted in at a meeting of club delegates in Sydney on Tuesday and hopes to get the association operating effectively as soon as possible. Rugby league players have tried for years to establish a single, streamlined union to look after their welfare and interests but have been hindered by faction fighting, player apathy and extraordinary events like the Super League war. But Butterfield and Peter Moscatt, the former Easts hooker who is now secretary of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) sports branch, are confident the NRLPA will provide players with the appropriate `safety net'. Butterfield was elected on an interim basis and will chair an executive committee comprising Nathan Brown (St George-Illawarra), Jim Dymock (Parramatta), Steve Georgallis (Wests Tigers), Martin Locke (North Queensland) and Richard Swain (Melbourne). `It's just a steering committee at this stage to get the whole thing up and running until we hold an annual general meeting next year when all members can have their say,' Butterfield said. `There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed but first we have to establish a constitution, become corporatised; those sorts of things.' The NRL hopes to work closely with the players' association and the two organisations will consider issues such as: * external and internal player drafts; * a recommendation to increase minimum annual salaries from $36,000 to $50,000; * increasing first-grade playing squads from 25 to 32; * establishing player-welfare and education programs to prepare for life after football; and * the collection of dues to establish the union's financial resources. Butterfield will squeeze his new commitments into his busy schedule next year. 

Q&A with Tony Butterfield Date: 30 Dec 1999,  Newcastle Herald
Full name: Anthony James Butterfield. 
Earliest memory: Falling off the A-frame in the school playground in kindergarten. I split my head open and walked home with dried blood all over me. I was living at Colyton, just shy of Penrith, at the time. 
Childhood pin-up: Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert) from Little House On The Prairie. 
Silliest thing you've done: There's been too many to mention. 
Bravest thing you've done: I try to be brave every day and take the world as it comes. 
Is image all about hair: Depends where the hair is and how much there is. 
Favourite indulgence: I'm a real lounge lizard. 
Worst habit: Never picking up wet towels ? I reckon they dry better on the floor. 
Three things you would take to a deserted island: My family (wife Kristen, sons Isaac and Rory), a few mates and their families and enough tucker and drink for a good barbecue. 
Favourite kitchen appliance: The microwave. 
If a movie was made of your life, who would play you: Either me or Tommy Lee Jones (`Butts' makes his motion-picture debut in Dein Perry's Bootmen). 
Whom do you most admire: That has changed throughout my life. When I was kid, it was Muhammad Ali and then gravitated towards Allan Border. Now, I like what Steve Waugh is doing with the team. 
Tea or coffee: I don't drink either. I either have water, juice or a cold one. 
 

Last man standing Brett Keeble League 99,  Newcastle Herald
At various stages of Newcastle's winter of discontent in 1996, Tony Butterfield could see the chance of a lifetime slipping away. He and some of the team's other elder statesmen grumbled among themselves as the talented but under-achieving Knights missed the semi-finals. Having gone within a game of reaching the 1995 grand final, the Knights were expected to go at least one better the following year but the distractions of the ARL-Super League war proved too much for too many to handle. Heads weren't screwed on right and the chemistry was all wrong. Butterfield, 30 years old at the time and supposedly running out of tomorrows, could only shake his head at the wasted opportunity as the semi-finals passed without the boys in blue and red. But the man about to play his 200th first-grade game for the Knights is a firm believer in things happening for a reason. The bitter disappointment of '96 only made the grand final win over Manly a year later sweeter. 
And the injuries and operations on his knees and arm which erased a couple of years of his career in the early '90s are partly responsible for the fearless front-rower still running around as he closes in on his 34th birthday. The last man standing from the pioneering Knights team of 1988, Butterfield extends his club record for most games played every time he takes the field. But tomorrow night's game against the Broncos, who joined the competition the same year as Newcastle, is a significant milestone. In the build-up to the battle of Brisbane, Butterfield reflected on what it meant to be one of the first Knights and how the club has developed in 12 years. `We were all kids who had been given a chance and we had absolutely nothing to lose,' said Butterfield, now captain. 
`A lot of us were from out of town but the support from the people of Newcastle was incredible and we felt like fully fledged first-graders. It was a great experience for a group of young men. `We were aware of our shortcomings inexperience and overall class but we focused on defence, taking the team forward and minimising errors.' 
He said the addition of Peter Johnston, Mark Sargent, Michael Hagan and Gary Wurth the next year gave the Knights a genuine chance against any opposition. `The high point of that period was the play-off game against Balmain, then we had a little bit of success in the Sevens,' he said. `We also started to see the emergence of the local talent and the juniors like Chief (Paul Harragon) and the Johnsies (Matthew and Andrew Johns) and Adam Muir and they were the blokes who went on to play for Australia.' 
Foundation coach Allan McMahon, who quit mid-season, was a casualty of 1991's poor performances but Butterfield said the players were `as much to blame as anyone'. `The change of coach was a shake-up and it was unfortunate the way things panned out because I really rated Macca,' he said. David Waite guided the Knights to the 1992 finals but Butterfield, having endured a few frustrating years sorting out knee problems, was a spectator most of the year with a broken arm. He said the arrival of Malcolm Reilly in 1995 was significant because the former British Test coach introduced the players to the idea of mental toughness. `Without denigrating Waitey, it was a turning point in the club's history,' Butterfield said. `Malcolm probably wasn't so much a great football coach per se, but he taught the boys the need for a stronger mental approach to the game.'