Sydney coach John Longmire has set Kurt Tippett a modest goal when the controversial forward returns to AFL action on Saturday.
Tippett will debut for the Swans against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium after serving an 11-game ban for his illegal 2009 contract with former club Adelaide.
Longmire says he has given Tippett a simple task: compete.
“We don’t expect him to set the world on fire. We just expect him to play a role for us and hopefully that is what he ends up doing,” Longmire told reporters in Adelaide on Friday.
“Over the last four weeks, the closer it has got, the keener he has been to get out there and play.
“He has been able to play pretty well in the match simulation but we understand it’s a completely different ball game playing AFL football. His expectations are, from us, just to make sure he competes.”
A smiling Tippett appeared bemused on arrival at Adelaide Airport when surrounded by television cameras and journalists.
Tippett only needed to look at Adelaide’s newspaper, The Advertiser, to realise his bitter split from the Crows still was the talk of his former town: his face was on the front page, back page, another page in the sport section and he also featured on four more pages in the newspaper’s AFL liftout.
Some Crows supporters were expected to attend Port’s home game on Saturday to jeer Tippett but Longmire said Tippett would cope with the spotlight.
“He will be fine,” Longmire said.
“Fortunately, we have had a couple of really strong weeks with Kurt in our team at training.
“He has been able to get used to the players over the last couple of weeks and they get used to him a bit more.
“His fitness is pretty good but we know he still need a little bit of match condition.
“Ultimately, we know there is nothing like playing a game and that is what is ahead of him tomorrow. And hopefully whatever he delivers tomorrow, he improves on for the rest of the year.”
Port coach Ken Hinkley said he had more to worry about than just the tall forward, saying he had taken no notice of the attention surrounding the comeback, or whether Crows fans will attend the match to heckle Tippett.
“I haven’t given it any thought at all to be honest. I have been more worried about Port Adelaide fans rocking up for Port Adelaide,” Hinkley told reporters on Friday.
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