In his first year at St Kilda, he led the club's goalkicking tally, placed second in the best and fairest and was nominated to the extended All-Australian squad.

[3] He also played one senior match with the North Ballarat Roosters in the VFL and represented Victoria's country team at the 2014 AFL Under 18 Championships.

[9] In fact, in a mid-year meeting with coaching staff he was informed he would not offered a contract for the following year without a vast improvement in effort and output.

[12] Following a strong pre-season, Butler made his AFL debut in round 1, 2017 against Carlton in the season opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

[16] Butler's early performances, along with forward-line companions Jason Castagna and Daniel Rioli, played a key role in Richmond's five game unbeaten start to the season.

[17] After eight consecutive games played, Butler was ruled out from the club's round 9 clash with Greater Western Sydney with a groin injury.

[21] He received a Goal of the Week nomination for one of those, involving a 70-metre run through the centre square evading multiple opponents before scoring from 40 metres out.

[25][26] He became a premiership player seven days later, when he kicked a sealing goal in the fourth quarter of Richmond's 48 point Grand Final victory over Adelaide.

[43] A revised recovery timetable saw Butler return to full health in time to play limited minutes in the club's VFL qualifying final in early September.

[44][45] He failed to earn selection in the club's first AFL final the next week however, with coach Damien Hardwick deeming his fitness less than "100 per cent".

[46] Continuing ankle soreness saw Butler also ruled out of the same weekend's VFL final, which would prove to be knock-out loss to the Essendon reserves side.

[63][64] Butler was left out of the club's AFL side following the bye, returning to VFL level where he performed strongly including in stints as a midfielder over the next five weeks.

[74] He was one of his side's best players in the early stages of the match, collecting 17 disposals though ultimately going goalless in the premiership winning-victory over Williamstown.

[79] Butler finished 2019 having played seven matches at AFL level but was Richmond's equal-leading goalkicker in the reserves, with 21 goals across 15 games including that year's VFL premiership.

[23][81] In addition to existing contact with Carlton, media reports in the opening days of the off-season trade period cited further interest in Butler from both Hawthorn and St Kilda.

[82][83] Richmond list boss Neil Balme expressed public support for Butler to explore greater AFL-level playing opportunities at other clubs in the first week of October, before interest from Carlton cooled in light of the pursuit of multiple other small forwards.

Butler had a pivotal role in the Round four win against West Coast, kicking three goals, including two in the third quarter that swung the momentum in the Saints' favour.

After some quieter games, Butler again returned to form against West Coast in Round 19 collecting a career-high 20 disposals and kicking two goals as the Saints fell short by eight points.