Kurt Tippett

Kurt Tippett
Personal information
Full name	Kurt Anthony Tippett
Date of birth	(1987-05-08) 8 May 1987
Place of birth	Sydney, New South Wales
Original team(s)	Southport Sharks (QLD)
Draft	#32 2006 National Draft, Adelaide #11 2013 Pre-season Draft, Sydney
Height / weight	202 cm / 104 kg
Position(s)	Forward
Club information
Current club	Sydney
Number	8
Career highlights
Adelaide leading goalkicker 2010 Sydney leading goalkicker 2013
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Kurt Tippett (born 8 May 1987) is an Australian rules footballer who currently plays for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League, having previously played for the Adelaide Crows from 2007 to 2012. Tippett represented Queensland in under-18 basketball before transferring to Australian rules football and playing for Southport Football Club. He was selected by Adelaide in the 2006 AFL Draft.

Personal life

Tippett was born in Sydney, New South Wales to parents from country New South Wales but moved to the Gold Coast, Queensland at two months of age. Tippett attended All Saints Anglican College during his high school years. His first love was basketball and at the age of 11 made his representative debut for the Gold Coast. In 2004 he represented Queensland in the u18 Championships and was given a spot on the Brisbane Bullets development squad. While competing in the u18 Championships Tippett competed against the likes of Patrick Mills, Joe Ingles and future AFL player Scott Pendlebury. He also toured the United States with the Queensland Academy of Sport team. Upon returning from the United States he accepted an offer from the Gold Coast Stingrays to try out for their Australian rules football representative team. His brother Joel played in the AFL for the Brisbane Lions and the Gold Coast Suns while his sister Gretel played professional Basketball for the Logan Thunder in the WNBL. During Kurt's two years with the Southport Sharks he studied Pharmacy at Griffith University on the Gold Coast.

Junior football

Tippett began playing Australian rules football for the first time in an inter-school sports tournament for All Saints Anglican College in 2004. It was not until he returned from a Basketball tour of the United States that he began to take football seriously. Trying out for the Gold Coast Stingrays, he made the team and they went on to be crowned state champions. Following the victory he joined the Southport Sharks for their 2005 season and after a few games in the reserves he made his seniors debut at the Gabba against the Brisbane Lions reserves team and matched up on AFL premiership player Jamie Charman. Kurt would end 2005 with the Sharks reserves best and fairest award while playing in 10 seniors matches for the season. He then went on to represent Queensland in the 2006 AFL National Under 18 Championships where they would go undefeated through the tournament to win the second division title. He would also be the second highest goal kicker during the Sharks 2006 premiership winning season. In November he was drafted to the Adelaide Crows with the 32nd pick in the 2006 AFL Draft.

AFL career

Adelaide Crows

Tippett made his debut in 2008. Playing as a key forward and ruckman, he became a regular in the side, but was often criticized for his inaccurate kicking at goal. At the Crows Club Champion evening, he received a 2008 Rising Star Nomination.

By the next season, Tippett had begun to develop into a potent tall forward. A bag of seven goals and a high mark against Essendon in Round 11 showed his potential to become the high-scoring key forward that Adelaide had lacked since the departure of Tony Modra, and with successive bags of five against Richmond and Fremantle he showed he could perform on a regular basis. He finished the home-and-away season with 47 goals, second behind only Jason Porplyzia (52) in the club's goalkicking. He kicked 8 more goals in the finals to finish with 55 for the year. His dramatic 60m goal from the boundary line gave Adelaide a 1 point lead against Collingwood in the last minute of the 2009 semi final; however, this went in vain as opposing forward Jack Anthony restored Collingwood's lead seconds later, resulting in a heartbreaking loss.

In 2009 he signed a three-year deal with the Crows, preventing the soon-to-be Gold Coast club from recruiting him as one of their uncontracted player signings. In 2010 Tippet was the Crow's leading goalkicker, demonstrating that the deal signed the previous season would pay dividends with the club boasting of the top forwards in the competition.

The 2012 Trade Controversy

On October 6, 2012 it was announced Tippett would request a trade to the Sydney Swans. Criticism was later heard from many people, two of which were Crows legend Mark Ricciuto, who said that Tippett was a money driver and former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett who angrily said the Swans should be stripped of money on trying to get him.

Although things shifted when it was revealed Tippett and the Adelaide Football Club breached AFL rules regarding his contract. Tippett was offered money not stipulated under the club's salary cap. As a result the club was fined and lost its first two draft picks in the 2012–2013 National Drafts, while Tippett was fined and suspended for 11 matches. The proposed trade to Sydney was blocked by the AFL, with Sydney eventually picking him up in the Pre-Season Draft, while Adelaide lost Tippett for nothing.

Sydney Swans

Tippett debuted for the Swans in Round 13 of the 2013 AFL season when Sydney played Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. He kicked a goal in the first minute, finished with two, and collected six possessions. Although missing the first 11 rounds of the season, Tippet showed his prowess in front of the goals winning the Swans leading goal kicker award.

Statistics

Statistics are correct as of end of 2013 season.

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2007	Adelaide	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
2008	Adelaide	4	19	17	17	70	65	135	44	32	0.9	0.9	3.7	3.4	7.1	2.3	1.7
2009	Adelaide	4	24	55	31	160	98	258	96	60	2.3	1.3	6.7	4.1	10.8	4.0	2.5
2010	Adelaide	4	22	46	34	141	59	200	84	39	2.1	1.6	6.4	2.7	9.1	3.8	1.8
2011	Adelaide	4	18	31	22	148	69	217	85	40	1.7	2.2	8.2	3.8	12.1	4.7	2.2
2012	Adelaide	4	21	39	31	176	79	255	106	32	1.9	1.5	8.4	3.8	12.1	5.0	1.5
2013	Sydney	8	12	35	20	85	44	129	53	29	2.9	0.6	7.1	3.7	10.7	4.4	2.4
Career			116	188	135	695	370	1065	415	203	1.8	1.3	6.7	3.6	10.2	4.0	2.0

See also

• Basketball experiment

External links

• Kurt Tippett's profile on the official website of the Sydney Swans
• Kurt Tippett's playing statistics from AFL Tables