Adelaide Crows FC
Born: 8 May 1987
Height: 201cm
Weight: 97kg
Junior Club: N/A
Senior Club: Southport
Schools: St.Vincent’s Primary School, Clear Island Waters, All Saints Anglican College
Region: Gold Coast Stingrays
Queensland: U18 (2006)
Draft Details: Selection #32 (2nd round) 2006 National Draft
AFL Debut: Adelaide Crows v Western Bulldogs, Telstra Dome, Rd 1, 2008 (23 March).
Jumper Number: 4
AT A GLANCE: A basketball convert who is destined to become an AFL superstar after a meteoric rise through two short years in the competition which saw him emerge as a rare commodity in the elite competition – a super-athletic marking power forward. A Gold Coast product, he was taken at No.32 in the 2006 National Draft by the Adelaide Crows after being rated significantly higher by the powerhouse SA club - so highly that he was offered a three-year contract instead of the standard requirement of two years.
It was a whirlwind ride for the young man mountain, who at the end of 2004 was bound for the National Basketball League after stamping himself as one of Queensland's prime young prospects, having starred at the Australian U18 carnival, been a member of the Brisbane Bullets Talent ID squad, and toured the United States with the Queensland Academy of Sport. Born in Sydney but a Gold Coaster from infancy, he is a product of All Saints Anglican School, which also counts St.Kilda’s All-Australian captain Nick Riewoldt, former Australian cricket star Andrew Symonds, and ex-swimming ace Giaan Rooney among its past students. It was through a bunch of school mates and the AFLQ independent schools competition that he was introduced to football early in 2005. One thing led to another.
Liking what he experienced, he was invited to join the AFL Queensland 'Rookie Search Progam' and AFLQ club Southport. After a handful of reserves games he found himself in the seniors at the Gabba against the Suncoast Lions. His opponent was rising ruck star Jamie Charman, who was returning from injury. A gifted natural athlete and fierce competitor, Tippett did enough to win a nomination for the AFLQ Rising Star Award.
He played 10 AFLQ games as a ruckman with the 2005 Sharks and won the Reserves B&F before taking his football to the next level in 2006, starring for the Queensland U18s at the Australian championships and playing a key role in Southport's AFLQ premiership side, this time as a marking forward. He was Queensland's No.2 goal-kicker at the national carnival in Melbourne, where the Craig McRae-coached Scorpions won the division two title undefeated, and was Southport's No.2 goal-kicker in the AFLQ finals. He finished equal third in voting for the AFLQ's Rising Star Award behind two All-Australian U18 choices - David Armitage, later drafted to St.Kilda in the first round, and Ricky Petterd, a Melbourne draftee who won the division two B&F medal. But it was the beginning of a tough first year in Adelaide for a player whose younger brother Joel was a 2007-08-09 Lions rookie.
He suffered two undisplaced neck fractures in November 2006 which sidelined him for two months and in May 2007, playing with West Adelaide in the SANFL, suffered a dislocated shoulder that required a reconstruction and sidelined him for the rest of the year. In 2008 he lived up his long-time promise when, after a starring role in the Crows’ NAB Cup Grand Final loss to St.Kilda, he played 19 AFL games and kicked 17 goals alternating between full forward and the ruck. He won the Round 8 nomination for the NAB AFL Rising Star Award after kicking a then career-best four goals against Melbourne, and was named ‘Best Emerging Talent’. But that was only the beginning.
In 2009 he stepped up into the match-winning category when, playing every game, he played all 22 games, including two finals, and kicked 55 goals to rank a close second to Jason Porplyzia on the club’s goal-kicking list. Sparked by a breakout and career-best seven goals against Essendon in Round 11, he followed with back-to-back hauls of five goals against Richmond and Fremantle in Rounds 14-15 and finished the year with a hat-trick of four-goal games against Carlton, Essendon and Collingwood in Round 22 and the club’s two finals.
He finished equal 4th in the Crows B&F to cap an astonishing jump up the pecking order in which he established himself right up alongside the likes of Jonathan Brown, Brendan Fevola, Riewoldt and Lance Franklin among the game’s best power forwards. So highly was he rated that he was identified as a primary recruiting target for the Gold Coast AFL expansion franchise. Originally contracted to the end of 2010, he signed a new three-year contract at the end of ’09 which committed him to the Crows until the end of 2012.
