Leading man plans a knock-out finale -  01 Feb 2000,  Newcastle Herald 
A new season brings new hope. It is a chance to wipe away any lingering disappointments. The 'what ifs' and 'if onlys' have long since disappeared from conversation. The talk is now up-beat and positive. The Knights are taking a fresh approach to the new-look 14-team competition. But one constant remains - Tony Butterfield. 'Butts' has been the backbone of the Knights' scrum since day one. He is the only survivor from 1988. Last year the inspirational front-rower took over the club captaincy from fellow original and close mate Paul Harragon. Chief's were enormous shoes to fill but Butterfield has done the job admirably. As he has since joining the Knights from Penrith, Butts rolled up his sleeves and led the side with pride and passion. He will follow Ch! ief into retirement at the end of this season, his testimonial. But first there is one more tilt at another title. The rugged 34-year-old is as fit as he has ever started a season. 'Given the time constraints, due to the early start to the season, I'm quite happy at where my fitness level is at. 'I have been working very hard in the gym but you can't squeeze everything in. 'It is the same for everyone. 'Early in the rounds we might have to do some extra work on our skill level and cohesion.' And again he will be the rock around which the Knights' pack is formed. But unlike last year, he will be surrounded by size as well as mobility. The Knights went shopping at the end of '99 with big forwards at the top of the list. They lured Ben Kennedy from Canberra, picked up Matt Parsons from South Sydney and took on North Sydney discard David Fairleigh. The trio has worked hard during the off-season and nobody has been more impressed than Butterfield. 
'Size and talent is the common denominator,' Butterfield said of the recruits. 'And to a man their attitude has been fantastic. 
'We were a bit light on last season. 'But even so, when we came up against Souths, who were declared the biggest pack in the history of the game, we thrashed them 60-0. 'So size doesn't always equate to dominance. 'Where it does count is when you come up against a pack which has quality to go with size. 'We have been fortunate to add both to our squad and if we are not in the top two performing packs every week, we are not achieving.' Butterfield is also expecting big things from young guns Danny Buderus, Steve Simpson and Sean Rudder. 'They have really progressed,' the 205-game veteran said. 'Particularly Danny in the hooking role. He is a fast learner.' Butterfield inherited the captaincy after the shock retirement of Harragon in May last year. He regards the role as a privilege. 'I'm comfortable with the position,' Butterfield said. 'But there is still a lot of things I could improve on ... dealing with the boys and remaining calm in pressure situations. 'I have to keep my guard up and make sure I don't get frustrated and lose my cool. 'Off the field, Warren runs the show, there is no change there.' Butterfield admitted there will be be a tinge of sadness when the final whistle is eventually blown on the Knights' season. 'It is sad in a way ... I first ran on to Penrith Park 17 years ago,' he said. 'I've had a good journey but I'm not really a sentimental type of bloke. 'The good times and all the experiences will stay with me and I'm sure I'll be visiting the grounds as a spectator.' 

From lair to leader -  27 Jul 2000,  Newcastle Herald 
Strolling down memory lane is not on Tony Butterfield's agenda this week. He is too busy, he said, dealing with media commitments and promotions in the build-up to his last premiership game at Marathon Stadium against the Bulldogs on Sunday. But let us allow him one indulgence. Newcastle's captain, most-capped player, and the last man standing after 13 crusades, Butterfield was reminded of the day he became a Knight. It was the middle of an unhappy 1987 season with Penrith and the 20-year-old tearaway colt from Colyton was offside with Panthers coach Tim Sheens. But opportunity came knocking and Butterfield must have been a firm believer in the philosophy put forward by Normie, the hero of Bob Hudson's catchy Newcastle Song. Something about never letting a chance go by. Surely it was penned with Butts in mind, right down to the title. A we! ek after a chance meeting with David Waite, Canterbury's reserve-grade coach that year, Butterfield's future in Newcastle was assured. `I'd been injured, I'd had a few weeks off, I was going nowhere, I didn't have a job, I was spending too much time down the pub, and all-in-all, I was struggling,' Butterfield recalled. `I was just wondering at the age of 20 where the hell I was going. Where I did go was to a buck's show in town. `Coming through Central Station at 2.30 in the morning or something, it was the week before I was due back and we were playing Canterbury, who Waitey coached. `Some of my mates were carrying on and annoying some people on the train. One of them was Waitey, so I called the dogs off and started talking to him.' Waite was the Knights' first development officer and President's Cup coach and was already on the job for the following year, trying to recruit the right people to build a team around in the Hunter. Having coached Butterfield's brother Grant in the 1986 Australian Schoolboys side, Waite knew that Tony an Australian Schoolboys rep three years earlier was made of the right stuff. `I asked Waitey where he'd been and he says: "In Newcastle. We're starting a new club",' Butterfield said. `I said: "Fair dinkum mate, get me a start. I'm looking for an opportunity." `I told him I was playing against his mob that weekend and he'd see how I'd go. `I knew I had to play well in front of Waitey that weekend, and I ended up playing third grade, second grade and 20 minutes of first grade because you could play all three grades those days. `The next day he rang me up at the pub, we talked money on the phone, I agreed, I walked back to the pool table, it was my shot, I sunk the black, and said: "Boys, my cash flow problems are over."' He had to leave Penrith and his mates to `sever ties with some bad habits'. `There were some good influences and bad influences there, but I needed to break the mould so I jumped in the Kombi and headed north,' he said. `Everything I set my mind to I've been able to achieve, bar a green and gold jumper, so all-in-all it's been good fun.' 
The fun began on a hot Sunday afternoon in late February, 1988, when Butterfield charged into the middle of Marathon Stadium with the first team known as the Knights. It might have only been a pre-season game but the legend was born that day his and the team's as the Knights trounced reigning Winfield Cup champions Manly and lifted the Newcastle Herald Challenge Cup. A likely home quarter-final in a week has made Sunday's `last game at Marathon' something of a Clayton's farewell for Butterfield, but he would rather deal with the attention and emotion now. `It fits in with traditionally what is a big day for the club; the last home game where all of the ex-players and old boys get together,' he said. `It's a fun day and a nostalgic day. `They can all enjoy themselves on the sidelines, we'll get the business done in the middle of t! he field then no doubt enjoy a few squashes at the end of the game and talk about old times. `But our focus is squarely on this game.' Injuries in his mid-20s, and the presence of a couple of blokes named Sargent and Harragon, meant Butterfield toiled away with only scant recognition from representative selectors. The highest honour came in 1998 when he was called up to replace Harragon in the NSW front row for the third and deciding game against Queensland. It was to be his only Origin appearance, although he craved more and would have revelled in the rare atmosphere. Former coaches Waite and Allan McMahon are convinced that Butterfield's knee problems and a twice-broken arm in the early 1990s extended his career. `One year there we hardly saw him, but it probably preserved and prolonged his career,' McMahon said. Waite added: `He missed lots of footy for a while there but those injuries probably gave him some longevity. If you played non-stop for 13 years like he does, you! probably wouldn't last 13 years.' 
Butterfield finalises a colourful career Butterfield's career highlight to date was Newcastle's ARL grand final win in 1997. However, he is in line to join the likes of Ray Price (1986), Mal Meninga (1994) and Glenn Lazarus (1999), who all retired the day they captained their sides to premiership wins. `As kids we all dreamed about reaching the pinnacle of whatever sport or career we embarked on, and what kid doesn't dream about holding the trophy aloft at the end of the year,' he said. `But fairytales rarely happen and they only do occur when the skill and the will are combined in the right manner on the day. `There's a great deal of work and there's a lot of very strong, high-quality opposition we need to overcome in order to get there. `I haven't really given it a great deal of thought lately. `Warren Ryan and I had a chat at the pub at the start of the year, that that was my intention, and I think it was t! he last time it entered my mind and the last time we spoke about it. `But it's definitely a goal. It's a dream.' 

Butts and Matt: thank you and good Knights -  31 Jul 2000,  Sydney Morning Herald 
NEWCASTLE 28 BULLDOGS 16 
Yesterday at Marathon Stadium, the game was really just a preamble. At 4.40pm, Matthew Johns and Tony Butterfield stood on a stage in the middle of the ground, unfurled a banner which read ``Newcastle" on one side and ``thank you Buttsy and Matty" on the other, and slowly performed an arch so 25,948 people could see it. Sound corny? 
It wasn't. For the departing Knights veterans in front of a sold-out crowd, it was an exercise in mass adulation but it was evident to everyone on hand that it was they who were adoring the masses, not the other way around. ``Thanks for the privilege to come up here 13 years ago to try and make something of my life," Butterfield said from the dais, and he meant it. Who could not be humbled by an outpouring of affection which put 12,000 on an overcrowded hill more than three hours before kick-off when it was all live on television? There was no doubt yesterday who the heroes were. ``A lot of players," said Wigan-bound Johns, ``collapse in a heap and do in their knees and never get to have their final game. To go out on a note like this is pretty good. ``This club is special like that. They're great supporters and they've done this for us. It would be nice to repay them, that's for sure." 
Hopefully for Newcastle, yesterday's exercise in shared purpose, in community spirit, in sport-as-society's-glue, said more about what the Knights can do these next four weeks than the game, won 28-16 by the locals. Newcastle hit the front for the last time with 36 minutes to go may not have Melbourne shaking in their boots at the footballers they will face this Saturday, they are entitled to be a bit concerned about the mood of the other 25,000 they'll be up against. Newcastle's eventual win with three second-half tries was, therefore, something of a fairytale for Johns, Butterfield and fellow exiting Knights Peter Shiels and David Fairleigh if a poorly written and flawed one. OK, Butterfield scored a try from a Matthew Johns grubber kick in the 26th minute. But the 34-year-old prop was also reported for a late tackle and never got a planned shot at goal, a last-minute Mark Hughes try being disallowed by referee Sean Hampstead. And Johns did win a man-of-the-match award. But he claimed afterwards he did not deserve it and he finished with a corked leg. Coach Warren Ryan nonetheless claimed afterwards: ``That's the best farewell I've seen, better than `Junior's' [Wayne Pearce] at Leichhardt. These people here are unbelievable."  Butterfield, who was flanked by son Issac at the presentation, as Johns was by youngster Jack, was more interested in the afternoon as a fable or allegory than a fairytale. ``All the emotion was taken care of today," When Johns and Butterfield moved a piece of material on their handmade banner made last week, long before they knew they had secured a home final to one side during yesterday's presentation, it revealed another message. ``See you next week," it read. 

A performer worthy of the highest honours; INSIDE LEAGUE - Herald. Jul 31, 2000.
ANTHONY Butterfield would never have won an Academy Award for rugby league's leading performer.
He is not the type to take the starring roles. But the rugged 34-year-old powerhouse prop would have a trophy cabinet full of best supporting performances for his efforts over the last 13 seasons with the Newcastle Knights. His curtain call, as far as premiership play is concerned, came yesterday at Marathon Stadium when he led the Knights on to Marathon Stadium in the 28-16 win against the Bulldogs. Fortunately, there will be at least one encore, and hopefully two or three, before Butts finally hangs up the No.8 jersey he has cherished and commanded. Unfortunately, his appearance back at Marathon Stadium next Saturday against Melbourne Storm is in doubt after he was put on report for a tackle in the opening minutes of the match yesterday and is likely to front the judiciary committee. That took the gloss off his day, which included his 27th career try. Few occasions could match yesterday's tear-jerker, when even the Bulldog players stayed on the field throughout the tributes to Butts and Matthew Johns, and to a lesser extent David Fairleigh and Peter Shiels. A victory lap at Sydney Football Stadium on August 27 would be the icing on the cake for his farewell to football. Butterfield's 231st game for the Knights yesterday was played with the same character as his first when he was one of Newcastle's `originals'. He is the last man standing of that group, and fittingly the club's captain. His standing in the community and alongside his peers is testament to his achievements both on and off the field. When Butterfield decided Newcastle was to be his future, he put everything into making it home. He married Kristen, who worked in the Knights' office, bought and renovated his home and raised Isaac, seven, and Rory, five. Isaac, proudly wearing his own No.8 Knights jersey, shared Butterfield's lap of honour yesterday.  A brother or sister for the boys is expected in November, which was one of the reasons Butterfield dropped plans to represent Ireland in the World Cup. His own representative career was limited to one State of Origin appearance in 1998 and a City Origin game in 1989, but his performance in the Knights' front row went a long way to making legends of Australian heroes Mark Sargent and Paul Harragon. Butts wasn't flashy. He could not afford to be in the Allan McMahon-coached sides of the early years. Serious injuries limited his appearances in the early 1990s when David Waite, the coach who signed him to Newcastle, took charge of first grade, but it was Butts at his best when he was injury-free for the past few years. Yesterday's effort, both on and off the field, in front of 25,948 spectators was one of his finest. He is one hell of a good bloke who deserved centre stage.

Butts at coalface of bush uprising -  31 Jul 2000,  Newcastle Herald 
THE Newcastle Knights knew what to expect yesterday when they emerged from their dressing room to burst into the sunlight of Marathon Stadium to tackle the Bulldogs in the last NRL premiership match of the season. For captain Tony Butterfield, there was no surprise at seeing almost 26,000 spectators tucked into every nook and cranny of the ground as he led the side down a guard of honour of his former team-mates. The match had been sold out all week.
It wasn't quite like that 13 years and 227 games before. Butterfield had just turned 22 when he followed Kiwi captain Sam Stewart out of the dank dressing room as the Knights ran out for their first match on February 28, 1988. None of the players had any idea how many people would be sitting in the grandstand, or even if there would be supporters on the hill. Nor did they realise they would set the standard for the Hunter's premier sport and community torchbearer. It was around 4.15pm, about the same time yesterday that Butterfield and his team-mates were shaking hands after the 28-16 victory, that the first Knights hit the grass running with the words of coach Allan McMahon ringing in their ears: `Be the player that other blokes want to play alongside'. 
It was The Newcastle Herald Challenge Cup match against 1987 Winfield Cup premiers Manly-Warringah, and the start of an era which lifted league from the doldrums in the city and coalfields. Surprisingly, only three Novocastrians, Michael McKiernan and Steve Walters from Lakes United and Cessnock's Rod Whittaker, were in the side comprising players who had come from all points of the atlas. The squad was put together in nine months by McMahon and David Waite after Newcastle had been admitted along with Brisbane and Gold Coast the previous April. However, they could not contract players until the end of the season. There were no flashy players from other clubs: Newcastle was the bush and no-one with known ability wanted to move to the dirty steel city. How things have changed. Newcastle had played in the inaugural NSW Rugby League premiership in 1908, but had never matched it with the likes of St George or Parramatta, except in winning the 1964 State Cup. There were 21,460 faces to greet the Knights `Originals' as they emerged from the darkness to the blazing sun to start the tradition. To cap it off, Newcastle, wearing predominantly blue jerseys, beat Manly 24-12 after leading 22-6 at half-time. Halfback Robbie Tew, aged 26 and from Brisbane, had the honour of scoring the first points with a close-range penalty goal. Many faces in the crowd have changed since that day. Many more are still regulars at home games along with thousands of converts. 
In the playing ranks, names such as Stewart, Glenn Frendo, Glenn Miller, Tony Townsend, David Boyd, Tony Kemp, Marc Glanville and Richard Clarke have been replaced by Sargent, Hagan, Godden, Albert, Peden and Johns M and A. Only one name hasn't changed A Butterfield and most of his team-mates from those 13 years were at the ground yesterday to see his farewell premiership performance. Butterfield, now captain, was the `player that other blokes wanted to play alongside' through the thick and thin, heartaches and triumphs of every Knights season. Now players plead to join the Knights, take pay cuts to stay at the club and settle in the now not-so-dirty city to bring up their families. And it was fitting that Knights coach Warren Ryan, a Hamilton-born and Marist Brothers educated schoolteacher, was at the helm after a record 413 premiership matches. So much has happened in the past 13 seasons, culminating in the 1997 championship victory. The Knights have another chance to take the title, starting on Saturday against defending premiers Melbourne Storm at Marathon. They have never lost the tremendous grass-roots support, undoubtedly the envy of other clubs, as witnessed yesterday when every Bulldogs player paid the courtesy of staying on the ground throughout the almost-teary farewells for Butterfield, Matthew Johns, Peter Shiels and David Fairleigh. `The Chief' Paul Harragon, a junior in the club's initial year, and inaugural coach Allan McMahon led the tributes. It was a tribute to two legends in their own time, the Knights club and Butts. 

World premiere puts a song in fans' hearts - 15 Aug 2000, Newcastle Herald
THE world premiere of the Jason Martin song Mr Butterfield - Hero of the Battlefield will take place at the Tony Butterfield farewell at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre tonight. For those who might want to sing along, here are the words. They say that no-one lives forever, in our hearts that's not the case at all Sometimes the armour shines the brightest when the smoke clears and it's hanging on the wall Stained with the blood of battle We recognise the hero Let the legend of the first knight be passed on to the children and set fire into their eyes just like the man that walked before them Stained with the blood of battle We recognise the courage of ..... The hero of the battlefield and we call him The hero of the battlefield and we thank him.I've seen honour, I've seen passion for the city that adores him I've seen fury, I've seen anger for the foe that stands before him Blue and red that's what they said running through veins of the man who bled Yeah, blue and red that's what they said running through the veins of the man who bled Stained with the blood of battle We recognise the courage of ... The hero of the battlefield and we call him Mr Butterfield The hero of the battlefield and we thank him Mr Butterfield. Blue and red that's what they said running through the veins of the man who bled Yeah, blue and red that's what they said running through the veins of the man who bled Let the legend of the first knight be passed on to the children and set fire into their eyes just like the man who walked before them Stained with the blood of battle We recognise the courage of ... The hero of the battlefield and we call him, Mr Butterfield The hero of the battlefield and we thank him, Mr Butterfield The hero of the battlefield and we call him, Mr Butterfield The hero of the battlefield and we thank him ... Mr Butterfield, Mr Butterfield, Mr Butterfield. 

Fact file Name: Tony Butterfield 
Birthday: February 4, 1966 Birthplace: Penrith 
Height: 183cm (6ft) Weight: 103kg 
Marital status: Wife Kristen, sons Isaac, 6, and Rory, 4 
Occupation: Full time student of life 
Played for Knights: 1988-2000 (13 seasons) Position: Prop, second-row, hooker Senior games: Penrith: 72 (4 first grade), Newcastle 224 (204 first grade, as at end 1999 season) 
Points scored: 100 first grade (25 tries) Club honours: Player of the Year 1988, 1996; Players' Player 1996, 1997; Testimonial 2000 Rep Honours: Penrith S.G. Ball 1981 (U/15), Penrith Jersey Flegg 1983 (U/17), Australian Schoolboys 1983, NSW U/21 1987, NSW State of Origin 1989, Kangaroo train-on squad 

Ryan issues Butts licence to get savage  - 19 Aug 2000,  Newcastle Herald
It might have been missed among the teary tributes and fart jokes at Tony Butterfield's testimonial on Tuesday, but Knights coach Warren Ryan came up with the play of the week by issuing his retiring captain with a challenge if they made the grand final. Ryan urged Butts to put some extra sting in a few tackles, even if they attracted the attention of judiciary commissioner Jim Hall. It brought back memories of 1997, when Malcolm Reilly gave Paul Harragon the green light to go berserk against Manly because `you don't get sent off in grand finals'.

That' Semi Final 2000
But Butterfield, the last of the original Knights from the team that played Parramatta in Newcastle first match in 1988 team, admitted even the support of an unwavering town could do little to ease the disappointment of missing the grand final after going so close. "Nothing could ease the pain," he told AAP. "The effort that goes into a premiership campaign. Only those that go through it know it. And those that go through it can experience the disappointment. "It'll take time to get over."  The Newcastle management gave Butterfield a testimonial year and it began with a function at Broadmeadow races on New Year's Day.  There are several other functions planned and Butterfield has the dream of closing his career with what you might call a game for friends during the tiny window of opportunity between the grand final and the Olympic games.  Butterfield is trying to organise what he describes as a "Knights Legends versus Barbarians" match featuring mates from all parts of his career.  Butterfield won't be picking up a cent from the potentially lucrative testimonial proceedings, he is sending the money to the John Hunter Children's Research Foundation and the Westpac rescue helicopter.

Butts - Last of the originals By PETER STERLING, The Newcastle Herald July 28, 2000 
"Butterfield has exhibited the kind of qualities that make supporters proud to say they are fans of their clubs. It's more about the way they have conducted themselves on and off the field for their entire careers, in doing so building up reputations as dedicated servants who become leaders of men. I'm sure it has not escaped those in Newcastle that whenever any young player is asked who has had the most influence on their blossoming careers it is Butts' name that always comes to the fore. Actually, come to think of it, there are plenty of senior players who make that same assessment. I played against Butts in Newcastle's first match back in '88, and as he plays his 227th first-grade game for the Knights this weekend the prop will be performing in exactly the same manner as he did all those years ago. That is the way we measure a player's career, consistency and longevity, and on both counts Anthony Butterfield is at the top of the tree."

Butts sheds a tear over field of dreams -  07 Aug 2000,  Newcastle Herald 
TONY Butterfield, the man who has made Marathon Stadium one of the most feared arenas in the rugby league world, walked off on Saturday for the last time with a tear in his eye. `Once the hooter went and I knew I had to walk into the tunnel, it dawned on me that it was all over,' an emotional Butterfield explained as he sat alone in a room adjacent to one abuzz with semi-final fever. `I shed a tear or two as I came off. I guess you could call that nostalgia. `I've had a great 13 years. I might not be much of a player but I've tried my hardest and I'm pretty proud of the way I've gone. I don't think I could've done it any other way. With my personality and the way I like to have a good time, I couldn't have done it another way. `But it's been a good time and I wouldn't have changed it for the world.' Butterfield's last game at Marathon closed the opening chapter in the history of the Knights. He was the last of the originals, the only man still standing from day one. That day the boys in red and blue were beaten 28-4 by a classy Parramatta side. From that defeat came the need to form a direction. Coach Allan McMahon found that direction in Butterfield. He possessed the `three Ts' talent, toughness and plenty of tomorrows. 
As he sat in the cold concrete dressing room, the rugged prop started to choke up with emotion as his mind wandered back through the glory days. Then Andrew Johns walked in, smiled and sat down. Captain courageous or simply `Butts' to his legion of fans at Marathon then realised there was still a job to do. `It's not about individuals when you get to this stage,' he said. `The strongest team will win from here. We showed back in 1997 that we can do it and we've got to play that way again.' Butterfield ranks the 2000 team above the '97 side that won the ARL premiership, and feels this year's team is starting to come together after Saturday's 30-16 win over the Storm. `The funny thing about this year's competition is that teams have been up and down all year,' Butterfield explained. `There was a lot of discipline showed out there mixed in with the flair we know we can play with. I think we've found the balance.' 

Bitter end shatters fearless captain
The tears finally came as Newcastle's last original gladiator trooped off the arena for the final time. His Knights might have been lost to the Roosters on Saturday night, but retiring captain Tony Butterfield was unbowed. Shattered fans wept unashamedly into their blue and red face paint as they stood and applauded their team's leader. Butterfield reciprocated, wiping his eyes as he walked up the tunnel for the last time. The 34-year-old front rower, who retires as the most capped player in the club's history with 229 games, choked back the emotion at the after match media conference. "We did our best for the first 50 minutes and I thought we were the dominant side," Butterfield said. "For the first 10 minutes after half-time we completed sets, we built pressure, took it forward well and we were the team heading for the grand final. But that's the nature of the game and you've got to be on your toes for the entire 80 minutes. Full credit to the Roosters - they played some good football, got the luucky breaks and went on with it."I'm disappointed, but at the same time very proud of the effort the boys put in. To be bundled out like this is disappointing but as I say, I'm very proud to have contributed to what the club's achieved over the years, and personally I'm proud of myself for a job well done. "I'd like to thank the Hunter faithful for 13 years of undying support for myself and the Newcastle Knights. It's something we appreciate and it's been there for a long time and hopefully will always be there. They're beautiful people, the people from the Hunter, and they support us through thick and thin." 
 

Rugby league is something that has been part of my life for 17 years professionally and about another 10 or 12 before,  that as a local boy having a game.  It will be a huge challenge in my life, but I have been building towards that over the past few years both educationally and professionally.

Butterfield finalises a colourful career
Butterfield's career highlight to date was Newcastle's ARL grand final win in 1997. However, he is in line to join the likes of Ray Price (1986), Mal Meninga (1994) and Glenn Lazarus (1999), who all retired the day they captained their sides to premiership wins. `As kids we all dreamed about reaching the pinnacle of whatever sport or career we embarked on, and what kid doesn't dream about holding the trophy aloft at the end of the year,' he said. `But fairytales rarely happen and they only do occur when the skill and the will are combined in the right manner on the day. `There's a great deal of work and there's a lot of very strong, high-quality opposition we need to overcome in order to get there. `I haven't really given it a great deal of thought lately. `Warren Ryan and I had a chat at the pub at the start of the year, that that was my intention, and I think it was the last time it entered my mind and the last time we spoke about it. `But it's definitely a goal. It's a dream.'

Waite rates great mate - Newcastle Herald
FEW would disagree with ex-Knights coach David Waite's description of retiring captain Tony Butterfield. Waite said Butterfield epitomised everything the Knights stood for since the club began, because `he had plenty of tomorrows, he was tough and he could tackle'.   Those statements were best left to others, according to Butterfield, and he hopes to be remembered more for developing the culture of the club. `I'd like to think I've been able to influence the way the club deals with players and hopefully I've improved, along with plenty of other players, the culture of the club and what we believe in,' Butterfield said.  `It's so important and that's why over the last couple of years I've been filling blokes like Danny and Hughesy and Gidsy in on the way we do things. `Hopefully they'll pass it on to the next generation as they come through. It comes down to so many little things because if you're doing something well, you don't lose it. `That can sometimes happen if a generation of people move on and you have to start from scratch, but there's already a blueprint for how things work well here.' 

Martin singing Butts' praises -  12 Aug 2000,  Newcastle Herald 
FORMER Newcastle and North Sydney halfback Jason Martin has written and recorded a stirring anthem as a tribute for retiring Knights captain Tony Butterfield. Martin, who played for the Knights in 1993 and 1994, will officially launch the song at Butterfield's testimonial, which will be held at Newcastle Entertainment Centre on Tuesday night. But the 1990 Dally-M rookie of the year gave Butterfield and the Knights a sneak preview of Mr Butterfield (Hero Of The Battlefield) at the team's bonding night at Port Stephens on Thursday. Martin received rave reviews and by the end of the night was joined at the microphone by the song's subject himself and several other players masquerading as back-up singers. Some of the more musically minded members of the Knights' playing roster have given the original song a resounding two thumbs-up. `Take Us To The Top has got nothing on this,' said one player, referring to Martin's previous musical foray, launched during the Bears' ill-fated 1991 finals campaign. That song was produced with the assistance of pop guru Ian `Molly' Meldrum, but Mr Butterfield, recorded at 2HD's studios last week, has had minimal treatment. `It's just me and my acoustic guitar,' said Martin, an accomplished musician and artist in his own right. Martin will play his `ballad for Butts' at next Tuesday's testimonial, and limited-edition souvenir copies of the CD single will be on sale for $10 each. `When he first played it to me, I told him that even if it wasn't about me it would still be a great song,' Butterfield quipped. `But seriously, "Face" (Martin) has always had the ability to write a good song. `He's very talented; he's a special type of guy. `The boys gave it a run last night. `It's a catchy tune, the lyrics are emotive, and I think he's done very well. `If half of those words are true about the effort I've put in, the impact I've had or the legacy I've left on the town, then I'm a very proud and satisfied bloke.' 2HD has given the song some air play in the past week and the following is an excerpt, including the chorus: I've seen honour, I've seen passion for the city that adores him. I've seen fury, I've seen anger for the foe that stands before him. Blue and red, that's what they said, running through veins of the man who bled. Yeah! Blue and red, that's what they said, running through the veins of the man who bled. Stained with the blood of battle, We recognise the courage of... 

World premiere puts a song in fans' hearts - 15 Aug 2000,  Newcastle Herald
The world premiere of the Jason Martin song Mr Butterfield - Hero of the Battlefield will take place at the Tony Butterfield farewell at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre tonight. For those who might want to sing along, here are the words. They say that no-one lives forever, in our hearts that's not the case at all Sometimes the armour shines the brightest when the smoke clears and it's hanging on the wall Stained with the blood of battle We recognise the hero Let the legend of the first knight be passed on to the children and set fire into their eyes just like the man that walked before them Stained with the blood of battle We recognise the courage of ..... The hero of the battlefield and we call him The hero of the battlefield and we thank him.I've seen honour, I've seen passion for the city that adores him I've seen fury, I've seen anger for the f! oe that stands before him Blue and red that's what they said running through veins of the man who bled Yeah, blue and red that's what they said running through the veins of the man who bled Stained with the blood of battle We recognise the courage of ... The hero of the battlefield and we call him Mr Butterfield The hero of the battlefield and we thank him Mr Butterfield. Blue and red that's what they said running through the veins of the man who bled Yeah, blue and red that's what they said running through the veins of the man who bled Let the legend of the first knight be passed on to the children and set fire into their eyes just like the man who walked before them Stained with the blood of battle We recognise the courage of ... The hero of the battlefield and we call him, Mr Butterfield The hero of the battlefield and we thank him, Mr Butterfield The hero of the battlefield and we call him, Mr Butterfield The hero of the battlefield and we thank him ... Mr Butterfield, Mr Butterfield, Mr Butterfield. 

Knights star sets city on fire again  15 Oct 2000, Sun Herald
Tony Butterfield compared the thrill of lighting the Paralympic cauldron in his home town last night with winning the Australian rugby league premiership. Butterfield, who retired from football this year after a club record 13 seasons, ignited the cauldron at 6.30pm to the cheers of thousands of people gathered at Wheeler Place, alongside Newcastle City Hall. The former Knights captain and State of Origin player described being selected to light the cauldron as a ``real honour that came out of the blue". While his Paralympic commitments were on a ``different scale" to Newcastle's grand final victory of 1997, ``Butts" regarded both as ``very special". ``The Paralympics are a worldwide event while rugby league is more of a local passion," Butterfield, 34, said. ``But when I'm older I'll certainly look back on both as proud moments in my life.' 

Butterfield finds business is super -  03 Nov 2000,  Newcastle Herald 
While the Newcastle Knights are into pre-season training former captain Tony Butterfield is tackling the world of business. Mr Butterfield has joined the board of trustees of the Newcastle-based Nationwide Superannuation Fund (NSF). The fund is managed by the PSI Group, which moved from Cooks Hill to new premises in Charlestown in September. NSF now has 77,000 members. It was established in 1987 as a broad-based, multi-industry superannuation fund to meet the needs of the business community in Newcastle and surrounding areas. The fund now has a national client base that is a mixture of self-managed funds, retirees and investors. Mr Butterfield said he was looking forward to working with the board. `I'm pleased to be associated with such a successful organisation and even more pleased because it's locally based,' he said. `Personally it's a great opportunity for me. `I've been on a learning curve lately.' Mr Butterfield said the fund outperformed all the other high-profile funds last year. `It announced a credit rating of 16.51% for 1999/2000, which puts the fund in the top 10% in terms of performance,' he said 

Bonnette tackles Butts head-on at meeting -  05 Dec 2000,  Newcastle Herald 
FORMER Newcastle Knights captain Anthony Butterfield was never one to take a backward step on the field and seems to be taking the same approach in his bid to become the first player elected to the club's management. Butterfield and Knights chief executive officer Ian Bonnette were involved in a heated exchange at the International Sports Centre club last Wednesday night. There was some finger pointing, and the pair had strong words over the manner in which Butterfield answered a question from the audience at an unofficial members' meeting to hear board candidates state their case for election. Bonnette was a spectator at the meeting, where nine of the 12 candidates outlined their policies and answered questions from about 80 members. The question in contention was about the handling of the David Morley sacking as football manager. Morley, the popular inner-city publican, was told the previous Sunday on his return from holidays that his services were no longer required as football manager. 
Bonnette and club chairman Michael Hill went to Morley's Cricketers Arms Hotel to break the news. Butterfield told the audience he believed the matter could have been handled better. Bonnette's beef was that there was an element of player power behind Morley's sacking but club management was being hung out to dry over it, and he said as much to Butterfield in the club after the meeting. The former State of Origin front-rower suggested the pair go outside ... not for fisticuffs, as the more imaginative witnesses contend, but to avoid a public slanging match. Butterfield went back inside the club at the conclusion of the debate. He would not comment on the matter when contacted yesterday. Bonnette, who spent a fair bit of time at the meeting signing club Christmas cards, gave his version of events. He said he did not think there was any public outburst. `Following the meeting, which I left straight away, I asked Tony if I could speak with him as I was leaving,' he said yesterday. `Tony walked with me from the Lumsdon area down to the car and in that process of walking to the car we had a discussion in respect to a question he had been asked from the floor, and my comments to him were in respect to the answer he gave.' Bonnette said the topic of discussion did not concern the Morley sacking. `I'm not sure what people thought,' he said. `There were a couple of people walking down the stairs at the time we walked out but he just walked me down to the car. `By the time we got down to the car we had finished our conversation and I got in the car and left. `I don't know what he did.' Maybe they did part on friendly terms, but it is doubtful if the pair will be exchanging Christmas cards. 

Butterfield says players have more protection -  14 Dec 2000,  Newcastle Herald 
FORMER Newcastle Knights captain Tony Butterfield believes the National Rugby League Players' Association is slowly but surely establishing a voice in the game's decision-making process. As association president, Butterfield helped secure a minor victory for players left stranded by the collapse of the Auckland Warriors. He will meet with NRL chief executive David Moffett this week to push ahead with plans for a `hardship' fund. The NRL has approved salary-cap exemptions for five former Auckland players ¤ John Simon, Scott Coxon, Matt Spence, Lee Oudenryn and Joe Galuvao ¤ who were not signed by the New Zealand Warriors. `These blokes now have the chance to get a new start with other clubs and their contracts won't be included in the salary cap,' Butterfield said. `It has been a complex process for everyone to work through, but we believe we are close to a result that will deliver the widest possible benefits to the players and the game. `We are also looking at a hardship fund, which when quantified would compensate players who have suffered as a result of the collapse of the previous owners.' Butterfield said some former Auckland players had been forced to sell their houses, and others had lost cars and property. The hardship fund would provide at least a percentage of the money owed to them. `The Players association is a step up from unions of the past. We're finally starting to achieve some of our goals and get some programs and policies in place,' he said. 

Butterfield treading a fine line in board bid - Dec 18, 2000.
FORMER Newcastle Knights captain Anthony Butterfield could find himself in a compromising position if he wins selection as a director of the club in the annual election which closes today. Butterfield is a strong contender for one of the five board positions from the 12-person field contesting the ballot. He is a popular figure through his outstanding contribution for the full 13 seasons of the club's life as a no-nonsense prop. He was captain after the retirement of favourite son Paul Harragon and is well qualified to stand for a position. He has strengths off the field, is well versed in the running of the club and is completing a business degree at Newcastle University. The possible conflict of interest stems from his position as president of the National Rugby League Players' Association, where he is also doing an outstanding job. Butterfield takes the role of supporting the players in the never-ending battle with management for better working concessions and conditions. If he is elected as a board member of the Knights, he would possibly be voting on matters for the benefit of the club's survival contrary to his beliefs representing the players. It would be very difficult for both sides to justify the trade-union leader also voting with the management team. Butterfield must not see any problems. He has stated he would not have to relinquish his position with the players' association if elected to the Knights board. Indeed, he is keen for other officials from the association to seek managerial roles. Butterfield went in to bat for the players when tight finances forced a cut in travel costs, convincing the Knights management of the benefit of travelling to away matches a day early with an extra night's accommodation. The club's loss of just over $1.7million did not seem to be a worry for the players, who were reported to have been paid in full by November 1. But it certainly was for the directors, not to mention the members and supporters. And if Butterfield gets the nod for a seat around the big table it will become his worry as well. He might then realise the difficulties football clubs have maintaining the outlandish payment to players despite the salary cap, and one job or the other will have to go. The first step, though, has to be winning a seat.
His opposition are Michael Hill, Mike Nesbitt, Lindsay Trotter, Marc Glanville, Kevin Smith, Barbara Davis, Kevin Lynch, Garry Wright, Michael Tyler, Ron Robson and Peter Corcoran. The spotlight this week will be on scrutineer Bill Wallace and his assistant Rob Rice, with six candidates employing an `observer' to watch every envelope opened. The result will be known on Friday night at the annual general meeting.

Old habits die hard for Butterfield on match day - 19 Feb 2001,  Newcastle Herald
TONY Butterfield went through the same pre-match routine yesterday as he has for the past 13 years. He drove to the ground, went straight to the sheds and had a chat to the boys. It was the same preparation he made 229 times for the Newcastle Knights. But as his mates ran onto the field, the former State of Origin front-rower beat a hasty retreat to the ABC Radio commentary box at the top of the grandstand. 
`I'm not sure how I feel, to be honest,' said Butterfield, who made a teary farewell from the game after the Knights defeated the Bulldogs last season. `It felt the same, but the only difference was they were getting changed and I was standing around in my civvies. `We've all got to move on.' 
Moving on will not be a problem for the last of the Knights originals, who has several off-field roles to play. The 34-year-old is president of the rugby league Players Association and has also secured a position on the Knights board. He manages these two roles with several business interests of his own. `I'm just another broken-down ex-pro footballer,' he laughed. `With Mark Sargent, Brad Godden and Mick Hagan all in there, at least I'm not alone. I couldn't think of anything better on a Sunday afternoon, it was heaven for me. `There are thousands of old blokes with limps around Newcastle and I'm just another ex-footballer.' While Butterfield spent his first day as a Knights spectator in the commentary box, he has no immediate plans for full-time media work. `To be honest there are other things I would prefer to be doing,' he said. `But I've probably got a good head for radio.' 

Retired life still hectic for Buttsy -  17 Mar 2001,  Newcastle Herald 
FORMER Knights captain and current club director Tony Butterfield wore all of his many hats while accompanying the team to Brisbane for last night's game against the Broncos. Butterfield was one of five Knights directors ? the others were Trevor Crow, Steve Doran, Ron Robson and deputy chairman Geoff Wright ? who made the trip north. Butterfield, the NRL Players Association president, met with several Queensland-based player managers to discuss union issues. And if the players did not see enough of Buttsy on tour, he loomed large as life on their television sets in the Newcastle-based tap-dancing movie Bootmen, which was one of the in-house movies on show in their Brisbane hotel. Butterfield had a cameo role as a heavy-handed hard man, a character he played with aplomb during his 13-year career in the heart of the blue-and-red engine room. But there was no truth to rumours that Butterfield bumped coach Michael Hagan aside and ordered all players to his room for a pre-match viewing of Bootmen as part of their build-up to the big game against the Broncos. 

Parallel pathways -  Newcastle Herald, Sept 28, 2001 
Tony Butterfield is confident the Knights of 2001 can beat Parramatta and earn the club their second premiership. butterfield can see many similarities between the 1997 Knights side and the current combination. "If you look back through the '97 season we had some rough patches, as has this team. And again, the Andrew Johns factor. Joey was out for a long time in '97 and Leo dynevor stepped in. "There were also some people who criticised the side, saying we lacked strenght in certain areas." Butterfield believes the key parallel is form going into the semi's. As we approached the semi's in '97, we really started to hit our straps and the players adopted a semi final mentality." 
"This football team at the moment is doing that well. They had a fairly relaxed entertainment style approach to their football. But with the tutelage of Michael Hagan and the senior players they were able to quickly change their focus. Conservative is probably the wrong word, but just being able to control the ball, play football where you should do and that you need to be able to compete on every play. There catch cry in 97 was; maybe we didn't have the team of champions that alot of the other teams possessed as far as individual talents. This was before the full emergence of some of the regular starters now. What we could do, and costs us nothing but attitude, is be a champion team. 
"We focus on being as tight as we could be, as disciplined as we could be and we had faith in each individual. Butterfield singled out the qualifying final against Norths Sydney and Darren Alberts match saving tackle on Matthew Seers inches from the goal line as the defining moment of the 1997 campaign. It was the watershed point in time where we knew something special had happened, he said. Those guys (norths) should have won. They had not made the grand final in so many years, yet we were still able to pull a win out. That gave us a great confidence and it proved to us that there are no fairytales, you need to earn every yard you make. That is the advice he has given Andrew Johns and his team in their quest to beat the Eels to the season's major premiership. "Emotion is only one part of it. It will only take you so far, you need to stick to the fundamentals. The grand final is the game you have to win because there are no other games. But if you focus on winning and doing everything perfectly then you are going to be disappointed. There are going to be ebbs and flows of the games when the tide will turn against you. You need to endure that, stay positive enough and have enough cohesion to take your turn and put them under the screws. There should never really be any sense of panic. You have to be calm and grind the sets out and be patient." Butterfield said. 

Butts recalls Knights most special time, 28 Sept, 2001. Newcastle Herald 
It was a moment frozen in time for Novacastrians when Darren Albert crossed for that try to give the Knights an historic grand final victory over Manly in 1997. And the man with possibly the best view of the greatest moment in Newcastle history was Tony Butterfield. The scores were locked at 16 all with moments left when Albert was tackled 30m out from the Manly line on the right edge of the field. "I was originally at dummy half for that fateful play when Alby played the ball, Butterfield recalls, If I had my way, we may never have gone down the short side and Albery may not have scored. Joey was at plus 1 (first receiver) Matty Johns at plus 2, and I thought "lets get it out to Matty with a couple of long balls and drop a field goal. Joey was sort of hedging, and he ended up coming into dummy half and said, "get out of the road." "Then he darted down the short side, Alby got half a step up, Joey got into a gap, passed to Alby and he accelerated. Try. "I sort of chased Alby in and then turned around and looked at Joey. He looked at me and we both screamed at each other, YES! We knew we had done it in that one second. " 
Later that night, on the way home to Newcastle, the magnitude of the victory hit Butterfield. "I sat on the bus next to Chief. It was dark, The revelry had died down a bit and we started talking about what we had endured over the years. The club did not have a sophisticated start. We had pulled together a rough mob of second graders. We trained hard and got beaten regularly. Gradually the team earned respect and occassionally we represented in the semi finals. But here was our one moment in the sun. We had finally achieved it. 

A man for all seasons - Tony Butterfield 
He names his children after great scientists and sportsmen, he reads at least three books at a time, has strong sense of social justice and is passionate about political history, who is he? The 'modest kind of bloke' who holds the record for the most first grade games played with the red and blue with 229 matches - Tony Butterfield. Tony is amongst the first men to grace the field in the red and blue jerseys when the Knights first formed in 1988.  In his long career spanning 13 years with the Knights, Tony's fondest memories ' were from those early days, because in a lot of ways we were sporting pioneers in Newcastle." 
From early on in his football career Tony understood the responsibility that went with the title of professional sportsperson. 'we had to fight to establish the Knights as a serious team in the NRL, and we saw that as a privilege and understood fully what it meant to be a role model, it was up to us to set a standard of behaviors." 
Tony continues to serve and support the Knights today as well as many other professional Rugby League players as president and founder of the Rugby League Players Association. He has quite a philosophical approach to most things in life.  When asked about the record misbehavior of professional footballers, he relates the problem back to an issue about balance in life. "I use this with a lot of players I talk to, that life is like sitting on a five legged bar stood. Each leg represents the different aspects in your life, health, spirituality, love, work, family and friendships and you need these things to be balanced.  The problem is a lot of players become one dimensional, that’s a one legged bar stool and it then becomes so precarious that if you have one injury, one argument with your coach or anything happens that’s not in your control, then you fall down.”
“I believe you need to be enthusiastic and interested about other aspects of your life, not just football, and this is why the Players Association has pushed for funding in Education and Welfare, so that young players don’t make the same mistakes that my contemporaries and I made by not being multidimensional to the extent that you can be, while you’re still playing.”
Recognizing the problems that professional footballers face, especially in retirement, Tony felt compelled to form a body that represented the players best interests.  “I saw a real need for a body that represented the players”.  Originally, when Tony retired in 2000 he thought he’d spend sometime establishing the association and then enjoy retired life.  Four years on, he is still working countless hours dedicated to establishing an association that protects the rights of professional footballers.  But don’t mistake Tony’s passion for collective rights “I’m not the quintessential trade unionist.  I just believe in what’s fair and what’s not.”
“Butts” is a tough man.  Physically he played much of his long career with a multitude of chronic injuries and off the field, he is not afraid to tackle the big issues within the NRL.  But don’t let his fierce passion for justice scare you away, there’s another side to Tony.  “I’m actually a big softy in my old age.  Sometimes when I come home after being away for a day or two for work.   I”ll get all the kids in bed and just cuddle and read to them for hours.”
Of all his sporting achievements Tony is proudest of his family and his friends.  Tony has four boys with wife Kristen, who he “absolutely adores.” 
Isaac 10, after the greatest scientist and theorists Isaac Newton, Rory whose 8, “Just a good Irish name, that means power, savagery and passion’.  Jonas, 3 ½, after a famous scientist and researcher and Darcy only 1 ½ after the famous Maitland boxer Les Darcy.  “I really just want to see them grow, I love developing their personalities and I’ll encourage them with whatever they choose to do.”  Isaac has already developed a passion for football and “he goes alright” sparked by the proud moment he remembers when his dad arrived home after winning the Grand Final in 1997.  Butts still proudly displays the success – he rarely seen without his ’97 premiership ring. Besides, a strong sense of fairness, family and football Tony is also deeply passionate about history, especially military and political history.  “There is just so much to learn, most mistakes today in any sphere of life, have been done before.  It might be a different environment or context but essentially it’s the same”.  Believing the best advice comes from history “I always try to refer to history for learning.”
Tony lives by many mantras in life, one piece of advice he is particularly fond of is something a survivor contestant said once, “Never give up, never surrender and never admit defeat!”

RUGBY LEAGUE WEEK -  DON’T THINK ABOUT WINNING 
Newcastle original Butterfield’s words of advice for down-and-out Knights 
THINK big Sammy Stewart. Think Henny Penny. Think Newcastle International Sports Centre. But don’t think about winning. This is the old-school advice from inaugural Knight Tony Butterfield as his beloved club tries to fight through the darkest week of its proud 17-year history.  Winless at the bottom of the ladder, the Knights are now $1.70 favourites to win the dreaded wooden spoon – a burden the club has never been forced to carry – while facing between six and eight weeks without mercurial halfback Andrew Johns.  But Butterfield, the inaugural Knight who now heads the Rugby League Players’ Association, is urging Newcastle’s young brigade to adopt the same mindset that helped a group of unknowns forge a red-and-blue legacy in the late 80s. 
“There are no miracle cures here,” says Butterfield, the 39-year-old enforcer who went on to win a premiership with the Knights in 1997. “And my advice to the boys would be don’t focus on the outcome.  “When this club first started in 1988, we couldn’t afford to focus on winning because we simply didn’t win a lot in those days. If we’d hung our self-esteem on winning then we would’ve spent the week walking around kicking stones. “Instead, we worked on the processes, the little things that get you on your way to winning. “Because if you’re trailing by 15 points with 10 minutes to go, you can’t achieve your goal if it’s only about winning. It’s unattainable. Instead you need to focus on finishing as strong as possible. Taking the game as close to the wire as you can. That sort of thinking sets you in good stead for the future.” 
With Johns recovering from a broken jaw and lock Daniel Abraham out for the rest of the year with a broken leg – a snap that was heard from the Warriors coaching box – Newcastle’s playing roster looks more like a group of extras from a Quentin Tarantino film. Johns had a plate inserted in his cheek last Monday while Abraham, who also broke his leg playing in the City-Country match in Gosford last year, had three plates inserted in his leg. There is some good news for the Knights, however, with three-time Origin fullback Mark Hughes and 22-year-old back-rower Andrew Price both returning in Premier League last Sunday. Prop Adam Woolnough is also expected back for the game against the Bulldogs this Sunday after spending several weeks on the sidelines with a pinched nerve in his neck. 

Butting heads; The Week; Herald. Mar 20, 2004.
NEWCASTLE Knights original Tony Butterfield earned a reputation for being a hard man during his career.
All league folk, from those in the loop to fans who have never met the former front-rower known simply as "Butts", have always afforded him compliments reserved for people cut from an unflinching cloth. Never takes a backward step. A leader by example. Honest as the day is long. Butterfield did not possess the sublime skill of Arthur Beetson, exciting unpredictability of Steve Roach or towering presence of Paul Harragon, but he thrived for 15 consecutive seasons in the most gladiatorial football code on the planet. He survived e games of first grade four for Penrith, the rest for Newcastle because he trusted his instincts, had faith in the players around him and refused to give up until the job was done. But nothing brutal gang tackles, inevitable cheap shots, treacherous king hits prepared him for what was to unfold in the first chapter of his life after football. Some time before he pulled the trademark tape from around his ears for the last time after the Roosters beat the Knights 26-20 in a preliminary final at the Sydney Football Stadium on August 19, 2000 Butterfield had made a decision. He was going to transform the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA) from a toothless tiger into a unified movement with serious clout when it came to making big decisions affecting the stars of the show: the players. Almost four years on and the association president is close to convincing the National Rugby League to sign an historic collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Butterfield presented the draft agreement to the NRL Partnership Committee on Wednesday. The committee will assess the draft and meet with the RLPA again next Wednesday to discuss any sticking points. At this stage the main problem is the salary cap: Butterfield wants it increased from $3.25million annually; the NRL does not. Provided they can come to a workable agreement, Butterfield is hopeful the document will be accepted by the NRL then legally ratified within the next two months. Recent history, however, has taught him to be guarded against optimism. Negotiations have been dragging on for three seasons, since the Auckland Warriors folded in November, 2000. To even the most casual observer, the constant riposting between Butterfield, NRL chief executive David Gallop, player agents and various bit players has resembled a game of schoolyard chasings rife with name-calling. Butterfield has endured too many restless nights during that time to prematurely beat his chest and claim victory. He has lost weight and spent "too much" of his own money carrying out the duties of the RLPA, a one-man outfit labouring under an almost laughable annual budget of $100,000, raised exclusively through membership fees. He types all the letters and licks all the stamps himself. When his wife, Kristen, recently asked him, "Darling, is it all worth it?", he thought for a split second then replied, "I can't give up until I achieve what I set out to achieve."
Butterfield has been butting heads with News Limited, which shares ownership of the NRL with the Australian Rugby League (ARL). News Limited rocked the code to its foundations when it launched Super League in 1997. It was the declaration of all-out war on the establishment ARL; an audacious corporate takeover bid to rival Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. Now the warring factions have come together under one roof, it is wry to read about them making life difficult for Butterfield, whose beloved Knights were the jewel in the establishment's crown when all hell broke loose. Butterfield claims that player agents, threatened by the prospect of "losing total control" over their clients, have also gone out of their way to stonewall him. He is doing his best to educate players. Their "apathy" frustrates him. He claims that on more than one occasion he has been told one thing by a player or agent, over the phone or in person, only to read an unflattering contradiction in the press the next morning. "It's opened my eyes," he says.
Back in January, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission approved the registration of the RLPA as a trade union. It became the first sports union registered to the commission. Butterfield prides himself on being a realist. He understands the nature of the beast and knows he is not the first trade unionist to raise the ire of big business and suffer a few bruises along the way. He stuck the equivalent of a poisoned thorn under the skin of the ruling powers when the players, under advice from the RLPA, boycotted News Limited's Dally-M Awards in 2003 in protest over the stalled CBA negotiations. At the time, News Limited's fiercest print rival, Fairfax, held discussions with the RLPA about sponsoring their own player awards. Butterfield has annoyed "some big boys" and threatened the status quo at the top end of town. "They must be thinking, `When will this blow-in from Newcastle go away?'," he admits. "But I've committed to seeing this through on behalf of the players and for the good of rugby league."
Since the cancellation of the Dally-Ms, the union and the employer have traded blows in the public forum. Butterfield has taken them on the chin and soldiered on with a steadfast determination that typified his playing career. After all, you cannot afford to be precious in politics.
Butterfield says the CBA is all about securing conditions that are commonplace in Australia's other major football codes, rugby union and AFL, and, indeed, all other big businesses. He has battled issues such as: Minimum wage; Salary-cap concessions for long-serving players; Education programs to prepare players for life after football, and; Policies to ensure players are looked after if they sustain serious injuries.
"I have always been involved in player affairs, certainly at the Newcastle level, and saw that different levels of player involvement was very positive for the team and how the team sat within the organisation," Butterfield says. "From there I obviously had an interest in the broader picture. Having been in the game for 17 seasons, I learned a lot about the game and recognised that while we had moved into this professional era, there were a lot of things that were left behind.
"Once players became full-time it was all of a sudden a high-risk industry in that one injury, particularly if you weren't getting paid much, could affect your whole cash flow for your family for the year ... or could put you out of the game entirely. "It was clear that infrastructure had to be established within the professional game, infrastructure that certainly wasn't there when I got involved. I've been pressuring and pressuring, and it looks like we're finally going to see improvements in some areas."
The players association formed in the late 1960s and has had a number of prominent figureheads, including Dennis Tutty, media mogul John Singleton and "supercoach" Jack Gibson. Butterfield said there had been "four or five attempts" to register the association as a trade union before senior players Luke Priddis, Craig Gower, Brad Fittler and Jason Stevens successfully moved the resolution at the RLPA annual general meeting on January 7.
"[The former RLPA bosses] were always beaten by opposition from the administration and, probably more importantly, the apathy of the player," he says.
"The difference now is that the player cannot be apathetic because this is not a part-time gig for him any more. "From the age of 16 or thereabouts he will have committed himself to this for the next 14 years. Given that he will forgo any tertiary education, job experience or whatnot to completely focus on his new career, it became clear to me there were a lot of holes for players to fall in. "You can use the analogy of a stool with four legs: one leg's your financial life, one leg's your family life, one leg's your education and one leg's your football. "Well, I know of a lot of footballers who sit on the stool with one leg. Football is their thing to the exclusion of everything else in their life. "It only takes one injury in a game that is inherently dangerous for that stool, and therefore the individual, to fall over. "I saw this throughout my career."
Butterfield is bothered by the public perception that all footballers are spoiled brats, with inflated egos, on inflated wages. "Certainly the elite players have always been looked after by their agents," he concedes. "But it became clear to me that the vast majority of the lower-grade players or fringe first-graders were not getting looked after at all. "You've got agents who, in the rush to capture the future market, cast the equivalent of a long-line fishing net, fully aware that you might get a lot of chaff, but among that chaff you get some real talents. "Sometimes it's difficult to isolate those players at 16, 17, so they just go and sign them all to long-term contracts. "A lot of the complaints I had from blokes I played with was, `This bloke [the agent] has done nothing for me for five or six years and I can't get out of the contract. "Those players deserve better. They must be thinking, `When will this blow-in from Newcastle go away?'," Butterfield says. "But I've committed to seeing this through on behalf of the players and for the good of rugby league."

Butts keeps rank as veteran crusader - Herald. Jun 4, 2005. 
TONY Butterfield's record looks safe for another year. The foundation front-rower hung up his boots at the end of 2000 as the Knights' most-capped player with 229 first-grade games to his name. Reluctantly retired former fullback Robbie O'Davis (223) is next in line but, despite his most concerted efforts for a recall, that is where he will stay. On 209 games, captain Andrew Johns was the only player within striking distance of Butterfield when the season kicked off, but Johns has been stranded on 214 since breaking his jaw against the Warriors on April 17. Unless the Knights produce the biggest form reversal in the game's history and qualify for the finals, Johns can only play a maximum of another 14 matches this year, which would leave him one short of Butterfield heading into next season.
Knights SG Ball centre Callan Richardson has been named in the NSW under 17s to play Queensland in the curtain-raiser for Origin II at Telstra Stadium on June 15.  Another product of the fertile Valentine-Eleebana nursery, 17-year-old Richardson scored a swag of tries for Newcastle's under 18s this season despite being dogged by an ankle injury. Originally from Central Charlestown, Richardson is likely to play the rest of the Newcastle Rugby League season with Lakes United.

Reilly and Butterfield reunite for 2020 vision; Herald. Aug 19, 2006. 
WHEN Malcolm Reilly was coaching the Knights and needed someone to do the hard yards, he called on Tony Butterfield. Back in town selling and spruiking Bluetongue beer, Reilly has again anointed his premiership-winning book-end as his go-to man by signing up with Butterfield's 2020 Sports management company.
"Mal has been inundated with requests for product endorsements and speaking engagements since he came back to town," Butterfield said. Reilly joins fellow grand final-winning coaches Wayne Bennett and Tim Sheens, boxing trainer Johnny Lewis, golfing personality Jack Newton and his sporting offspring Clint and Kristie in the 2020 stable. Anyone interested in securing Reilly's services for a guest speaking or promotional gig can contact Butterfield at 2020 on 0412 683765.
Andrew Johns and Danny Buderus will be guest speakers next Friday at a lunch to help Knights junior Joel Brown, younger brother of first-grader Riley, raise funds for his trip to Britain and France with the Australian Schoolboys this year. Australia's "winningest" jockey, Allan Robinson, who recently reclaimed the national record for most wins in a season, will be master of ceremonies for the function, which kicks off at 12.30pm at Merewether's Burwood Inn. Tickets are $80 from Knights team manager Garry Callaghan on 0408 278883. As he reveals in the Once-A-Knight feature on this page, Peter Shiels is returning to Newcastle soon to open a gym at Toronto. But where has the lanky former Penrith junior been and what has he been up to for most of this year?
A stand-out winner for most exotic post-football career path, Shiels has spent the past eight months playing Texas Hold-Em Poker in the casinos of Las Vegas.
"Maybe it was an early mid-life crisis, but it was heaps of fun," Shiels said. "I had a ball. Vegas is one of the best cities in the world."