Kurt Tippett looked destined to play another sport, having spent most of his childhood shooting hoops on the Queensland coast not knowing much about that foreign code they called AFL football.
More than a decade on, Tippett is extremely thankful for the eventual pathway which has seen him play 149 games for Adelaide and Sydney.
“I always dreamed of playing a professional sport,” Tippett said. “At that time it probably wasn’t AFL but I’m very grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to come into this wonderful game and play 149 games so far.”
Born in Sydney but raised on the Gold Coast by a basketball-loving family, Tippett was destined for the court.
In 2004, the then 17-year-old represented Queensland at the Under 18 Championships and subsequently earned a spot in the Brisbane Bullets’ Development Squad.
But the lure of AFL footy eventually came knocking.
“I played a lot of basketball and soccer and, I guess, growing up in Queensland the rugby codes are big up there as well,” Tippett said.
“I tried my hand a bunch of those and enjoyed them but I’m grateful to have found my way into AFL.
“I simply played to have a bit of fun with school mates and I was then lucky enough to have some good coaches who encouraged me to keep going.”
News: Tippett relishes ruck role
Tippett hasn’t looked back, spending five seasons at the Crows before eventually finding his way to Sydney in a heavily publicised and scrutinised move.
The 294-goal forward turned pinch hitting ruckman has put all that behind him and, after also leaving some recent injury woes behind him, has become an important player in the Swans’ line up.
Shouldering the ruck duties alongside Mike Pyke, often solely in light of Pyke’s knee concerns, Tippett has added another dimension to his game of which has been on show especially in the back half of the season.
Tippett has especially dominated the past five weeks, kicking 12 goals while averaging nearly 24 hit outs a game.
“It has been different, having played majority forward in the last couple of years in Sydney…I’ve been trying to get the balance right,” Tippett said.
“I want to play both roles as best I can, I want to have an impact in the middle and an impact in front of goal so hopefully it’s coming together and I can play role well going forward.”
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His athleticism, probably developed during the early years, comes to fore and is amazing to watch particularly when the 201cm key gathers the footy below the knees with ease to snap truly.
A piece of play achieved on many times this season.
Accuracy has also been a feature of his game with the spearhead going at 64.9 percent this season (37 goals, 18 behinds) which is a touch above any of competition’s 10 leading forwards.
That percentage would have been a touch better had it not been for a string of narrow misses in the past two weeks (8.7) on top of Sunday’s “brain fade” against the Saints in which Tippett missed from 15-20m out directly in front.
A joke and laugh between coach and it has been back to business for Tippett who keen to tick off game 150 and “hopefully many more to come”.
