Crows star Tippett set for Swans switch
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Sydney Swans have capped off a memorable week after Adelaide Crows superstar Kurt Tippett expressed a desire to join the newly-crowned AFL premiers.
Tippett had been tipped to return to Queensland, where he went to school, to join either Brisbane or the Gold Coast, but on Saturday he announced he wanted to link up with the Swans, who shocked Hawthorn to win the grand final last Saturday.
Sydney will still have to find a deal that satisfies the Crows before forward Tippett officially signs his four-year contract, but the news is a huge coup for John Longmire’s side.
“I want to thank the Adelaide Football Club for the opportunity and support they’ve given me over the past six years,” Tippett said in a statement on Saturday.
“It’s an outstanding club and I’ve really enjoyed playing there. I wish Brenton Sanderson and the club all the best for the future.”
Tippett said he rejected a five-year deal from the Crows and similar offers from the Lions and the Suns, and wanted to return to the city where he was born.
“This was a combined football/lifestyle decision and the balance between the two,” he said.
“I was born in Sydney, I have a lot of friends and family there, and this offers me a chance to play football in a lifestyle which I really enjoy.
“It’s obvious the Swans have a very special culture, in addition to a very good team. I look forward to being part of it.”
Crows’ list manager David Noble issued a curt statement following the news, and said now that speculation over Tippett’s future was over it would allow the club to move forward.
“Now that we know Kurt’s preferred club we can start considering the trade options available to us and start formal negotiations when the trade period opens on Monday,” Noble said.
“We’ll be seeking to deliver a positive outcome for the Adelaide Football Club.”
Brisbane’s national talent manager Rob Kerr admitted he was keen to sign Tippett, but conceded the club were never realistically going to be able to match what the Swans could offer.
“Once Kurt signalled his intention to come home to Queensland, the club put to him an extremely appealing offer,” Kerr said.
“However, we understood it was going to be difficult to compete financially with Sydney given the additional salary cap space that is provided to them.”
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The Crowd Says (14) | Page 1 of Comments
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October 7th 2012 @ 9:23am
damo said | October 7th 2012 @ 9:23am | Report comment
Where is the Salary Cap space coming from?!
October 7th 2012 @ 10:10am
Ian Whitchurch said | October 7th 2012 @ 10:10am | Report comment
From the fact the Sydney side is full of low-paid journeymen.
Seriously, look at what was being said about this Sydney side at the start of the year.
October 8th 2012 @ 4:17pm
Strummer Jones said | October 8th 2012 @ 4:17pm | Report comment
Wouldnt be surprised if Jessie White was on a reasonable 3 year contract that has now expired and frees up a bit of cash. Recall that he was the ‘great white hope’ when Hall departed, and started off pretty well until he got those damn tatts that clearly proved his downfall
October 8th 2012 @ 6:41pm
Andrew A said | October 8th 2012 @ 6:41pm | Report comment
The additional salary cap afforded to Sydney probably isn’t justified. Food and clothing are priced similarly to other states. Perhaps only rent is a little higher. The Swans appear to have a terrific culture that helps players get the best out of themselves. The increased cap obviously gives the Swans an advantage, but it isn’t the major reason for their success. It would be interesting to find out if the lower paid rookies and first and second year players actually receive 10% more than their counterparts at other clubs. The lower paid players would be the ones who actually need some extra cash. If they don’t get extra, then the concession should be scrapped immediately.
October 8th 2012 @ 9:30pm
Oracle said | October 8th 2012 @ 9:30pm | Report comment
If they are working on a CPI pro-rata, then both of the Adelaide sides should be paying less in their salary cap than every other teams in the comp, based on property values etc excuse that Andrew Ireland is so affronted by.
That is why the extra for both Sydney teams has passed it’s use by date, even though I am sure Sydney spread the extra 10% across the board, and have been brilliant in what they have achieved. I do not begrudge them their success at all.
The AFL took Brisbane’s extra away from them when they became successful, the precedent is there, and should be acted upon.
It should, but won’t, because of the expansion teams
October 9th 2012 @ 11:45am
Redb said | October 9th 2012 @ 11:45am | Report comment
Waiting for McGuire to bleat and bleat and bleat about this
October 10th 2012 @ 1:33pm
Matt F said | October 10th 2012 @ 1:33pm | Report comment
Eddie used to bleat about it. Then he moved to Sydney to run Ch 9 and changed his mind
October 9th 2012 @ 12:57pm
NF said | October 9th 2012 @ 12:57pm | Report comment
Redb
Being a non-AFL follower in QLD I’m wondering about this extra 10% the NSW/QLD concessions and what was the general AFL fan and media thoughts of it as a outsider is looks like a legalized cap increase which allow the respective teams to keep there star players and help grow the game in there regions respectively.
From a NRL perspective it would of make sense to give Storm the same type of concessions perhaps they wouldn’t of cheated the cap in the first place if they were given such concessions.
Overall, it make sense to strengthen up the non-heartland teams as possible through this where the NRL does the opposite and tends to either cut the team out of first sign of trouble (WA/SA) instead of bailing them out like the AFL did with the Lions/Swans on occasion in there darkest hours or refused to do anything at all and forced the expansion team to fight for themselves.
October 9th 2012 @ 3:38pm
TC said | October 9th 2012 @ 3:38pm | Report comment
It’s definitely something which deserves to be scrutinised – not so much the concept, but the quantum. In years gone by, there were big cost-of-living difference between Sydney and the rest of the country, I’m not sure if that difference is as great these days.
Also, in the early days, the Swans were able to legitimately argue that they had trouble attracting players to Sydney (considering around half of all draftees are coming out of the Vic U18 comp, and often have a preference to remain home at that age).
There’s no doubt that the allowance helps the Swans grab a player like Tippet – key forwards like that attract a premium, and the swans can fit that premium inside their cap.
On the other hand, the Swans can quite rightly argue that they have built up their list by attracting players ditched by other clubs and plicking out good players in the lower part of the draft – something that is open to all clubs to pursue (plus they have uncovered players like PIke and Jack and turned them in to AFL players).
In 2012, the Swans spent below the cap, so the allowance cannot be blamed for their success this year. Their recruitment over the last few years has been outstanding, and they have been blessed by two great coaches in succession – that’s where the true focus should be.
TC
ps agree with the idea that the Storm should attract similar assistance to establish itself in a non-heartland area
October 9th 2012 @ 3:16pm
Brewski said | October 9th 2012 @ 3:16pm | Report comment
The additional salary cap is not justified when they win a flag.
Hawthorn are whingers, Sydney won it fair and square IMO.
October 9th 2012 @ 4:35pm
Andrew A said | October 9th 2012 @ 4:35pm | Report comment
The Swans definitely won a great Grand Final fair and square. They don’t need the additional salary cap and can win another flag without it. That will silence any doubters. They could probably still recruit Tippett with a lesser salary cap. Tippett could get a 5 year deal with more money elsewhere compared to the 4 year offer from Sydney. The AFL should do Sydney a favour and ensure all teams have the same salary cap. When Sydney win again because of their great culture and teamwork, there can be no whingeing.
October 9th 2012 @ 7:55pm
yewonk said | October 9th 2012 @ 7:55pm | Report comment
i think its a mistake they dont need one tippett. i dont know how much you can expect a marquee players influence to have on a premiership winning side. a million dollars for him what does that do for the motivation of all the journeymen in the swans after winning the flag
October 9th 2012 @ 8:20pm
Brewski said | October 9th 2012 @ 8:20pm | Report comment
I tend to agree, but if any club can make it work, it is Sydney, you can guarantee that Tippett will play to a exact plan that Longmire sets out, or he will be on his bike.
I thought for sure he was working his way back to the GC, this actually suprised me.
October 10th 2012 @ 1:45pm
Matt F said | October 10th 2012 @ 1:45pm | Report comment
Whilst we don’t need Tippett (it’s hard to argue that any team who has just won a flag needs anyone) the weakness in our side is up forward. Sam Reid will be very good but is still young and we really don’t have a forward who is capable of kicking 5+ goals in a game. Tippett has the potential to do this (so does reid but is probably still a year or more away from this level) but even if he doesn’t he will take the best defender which will take some attention of Reid which can only be a good thing.
That being said Tippett isn’t so essential that we should give Adelaide too much. If we have to give up something really serious to get him then most Swans fans are happy for the club to walk away from the deal.
Also Andrew ireland has said that Tippett would earn more at Adelaide next year then at Sydney so the million dollar talk is wide of the mark. It’s probably a back-ended deal (with the likes of Bolton, Goodes and O’Keefe to retire in the next few seasons and salary cap rises due to the TV deal) so he will probably earn more in future seasons (whether it’s a $1million+ I don’t know) but we’re definitely not giving him a million dollars next season.