Kurt Tippett leaving the AFL Commission with legal counsel David Gallbally. Picture: Norm Oorloff. Source: Herald Sun
CONTROVERSIAL ex-Crow Kurt Tippett's return to AFL football is shaping as a must-see event for next year's calendar with experts predicting he will come back in immediate and furious form.
Tippett will miss the first 11 matches of next season because of his part in the Crows' and his dodgy 2009 third-party dealings and draft tampering but those who know him best have warned season 2013 will not be a wasted one for Tippett.
The key forward-ruckman, 25, will not be allowed to play football at any level during his sanction - be it state league, suburban league or country league - but he is free to put in a full pre-season with the club that chooses him in the December 11 pre-season draft and continue to train during the year.
He is expected to be snapped up by AFL premiers Sydney, with whom he has had extensive negotiations.
But former Adelaide Crows physical performance manager Stephen Schwerdt predicted he'd be ready once he returned from his spell.
Schwerdt, a former player and long-serving fitness man now at Gold Coast, has overseen the return from injury from champions such as Andrew McLeod and Mark Ricciuto and put Tippett in the elite bracket.
He didn't agree with the school of thought that suggested Tippett's next season would be wasted as he worked himself back into touch and form.
"He's very professional, has a very good work ethic and I wouldn't rule it out (Tippett returning to league football straight away)," Schwerdt said.
"It's a bit like a race horse - I think he'll be very good first up but then he'll be a bit sore, and he'll probably have to be managed for the second and the third week.
"But they'll prepare him for a 15-week season or so; the 11 games of the regular season and then finals. They'll do a lot of match simulation.
"The thing is, he's not like others who have been out of the game for a long time who need a lot of rehab. It's more like guys who have had hand or wrist injuries: they can do all of the work and when the time comes they're ready to step back in straight away."
If, as expected, Tippett is taken by the Swans, the first game he is eligible to play will be against Port Adelaide on June 22 next year which, if he is selected, shapes as a game almost as anticipated as when Ben Cousins returned from suspension with West Coast and racked up 38 possessions.
Sydney has confirmed it is still keen on Tippett after he was suspended last Friday by the AFL commission.
Tippett has lodged his minimum terms for next week's pre-season draft, but it is understood they are shy of a reported early offer from Sydney of $3.55 million over four years, which had bonus clauses that can no longer be fulfilled because of the suspension.
Greater Western Sydney remains the greatest threat for Sydney, with a pick before Sydney in the draft.
GWS coach Kevin Sheedy played down Tippett's suspension, saying it amounted to no more than 22 hours of football and would not dampen his interest.
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