Kurt Tippett's playing future remains uncertain, with the real prospect he could be banned for all of 2013 by the AFL Commission. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: The Advertiser
Tippett has engaged leading Melbourne QC David Galbally. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis Source: Herald Sun
KURT Tippett has declared his innocence in the Adelaide salary cap scandal and threatened to sue the club if the AFL deregisters him.
Lawyers for Tippett will argue at Monday's AFL Commission meeting the star forward was coerced and manipulated by the Crows into signing the secret agreement that could lead to him being banned from the game.
Adelaide last night confirmed it had received papers from Tippett's legal team notifying he intended to sue for damages and loss of earnings if banned.
While it will enrage Crows fans, it sends a message to the AFL he will battle to the end, taking the dispute to the courts should he be punished for his part in the deal.
Tippett has engaged leading Melbourne QC David Galbally, who will on Monday tell the commission the 25-year-old is the innocent party in Adelaide's salary cap dealings.
Galbally is expected to argue that Tippett was all but out the door to Gold Coast in 2009 before the Crows pressured him to stay. Resulting third-party payments worth $300,000 triggered the AFL investigation.
"As far as I see it, Kurt is an innocent player. I can't see that he has done anything wrong," Galbally told the Herald Sun.
"He stayed at Adelaide to his significant detriment.
"He was a 22-year-old kid at the time."
Galbally has an intricate knowledge of the AFL's rules and regulations, having acted for the league when it successfully deregistered sacked West Coast player Ben Cousins for a year.
The Tippett camp will argue it would be a "drastic" step to deregister the player, given no Carlton player was sanctioned in 2002 for their part in salary cap breaches, including under the table payments to players.
Galbally was yesterday to receive the entire brief of evidence against Adelaide and Tippett.
Tippett's playing future remains uncertain, with the real prospect he could be banned for all of 2013 by the AFL Commission.
That would force him to reapply to the AFL for the 2014 season, which happened in the Cousins case.
Yet the more likely scenario would see Tippett permitted to enter next month's pre-season draft but suspended for a chunk of the 2013 season.
The Herald Sun understands both Sydney and Greater Western Sydney would still recruit Tippett at his nominated salary even if he had to sit out an eight or 10-week suspension.
Those close to Tippett say he is shell-shocked by the scandal, and would prefer not to play at the Giants.
Yesterday the Giants delisted fellow ruckman Dean Brogan to create list space for Tippett.
The club seems intent on selecting him if he remains available.
His failure to nominate for the national draft by yesterday's 2pm cut-off means his only option to move clubs is to nominate for the December 11 pre-season draft by November 28.
The Giants hold the first pick in that draft, with cashed-up clubs such as the Brisbane Lions and Fremantle having picks ahead of premier Sydney.
Sydney chief executive Andrew Ireland said yesterday the club could only await the AFL's verdict before considering its next move.
"We need to consider the circumstances once we know the outcome of next week's ruling," he told the Herald Sun.
"It's an unusual circumstance. We are still keen for Kurt to become a Swans player, but we will have to wait and see now."
Adelaide chief executive Steven Trigg said yesterday: "We are really looking forward to being able to explain ourself to the Commission.
We know what we are dealing with, we know the timelines."
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