Sydney Swans rule out trying to lure Kurt Tippett out of retirement despite ruck crisis
SYDNEY has ruled out trying to convince Kurt Tippett to come out of retirement to save their ruck department after a string of injuries have left the Swans with limited options on the eve of the 2018 season.
Sydney
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THE Sydney Swans have ruled out sending an SOS to recently retired star Kurt Tippett despite Sam Naismith’s season-ending knee injury severely depleting their ruck stocks.
Tippett announced his retirement from football in January after reconstructive surgery on his ankle.
Because Tippett announced his retirement after the Swans had finalised their 2018 list, the 30-year-old is eligible to play on. But Swans Football Manager Tom Harley on Thursday said that wouldn’t happen.
INJURY: SWANS RUCKMAN SAM NAISMITH TEARS HIS ACL
CAREER DONE: KURT TIPPETT ANNOUNCES HIS RETIREMENT FROM THE AFL
CHANGES: AFL CONSIDERING MID-SEASON TRADE PERIOD FOR 2018
EX-COACH: PAUL ROOS BACKS MID-SEASON TRADE PERIOD
“He technically can play,” Harley said.
“He is on the list but in reality he chose to retire and we accepted his retirement. I’m sure there was a whole host of reasons why he made that decision but certainly one of them was the state of his ankle.
“We will be going with Cal (Sinclair) and Darcy (Cameron) and looking at some other options immediately.”
Sinclair is the logical replacement for Naismith, along with Aliir Aliir, but both will be missing from Friday night’s JLT match against GWS at Blacktown with ankle injuries.
It’s a terrible card to be dealt just two weeks out from the season but the Swans have now been forced to follow the trend towards smaller ruck divisions.
The last two premiership teams have followed the shift. Richmond’s Grand Final ruck was led by Toby Nankervis and Shaun Grigg, and the Western Bulldogs by Jordan Roughead and Marcus Bontempelli.
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“Gone are the days when rucks go on and off the bench,” Harley said.
“You need to go forward and kick goals like ‘Tippo’ has done and Cal Sinclair has done. You can go down another route which is the Dean Towers one where he becomes a fifth midfielder.
“If you go with two ruckmen your second ruckman needs to significantly contribute somewhere else.”
AFL boss Gillon McLachlan floated the idea of a pre-season and mid-season draft for exactly this situation allowing clubs to draft from competition’s outside the AFL.
But they would have to act very quickly to help the Swans out of a very difficult situation.
“It’s the way it goes and you have no choice but to get on with it,” Harley.
Darcy Cameron has been named as the Swans ruckman for Friday night’s clash with the Giants, who have included Brett Deledio, Nick Haynes and Toby Greene for their first games of 2018.
“Brett has been training really well so he’ll get a great opportunity and he’ll be unrestricted,” Giants coach Leon Cameron said.
Greene is coming off a toe injury and announced a six-year contract extension earlier this week which will tie him to the club until the end of 2024.
Rory Lobb will play his first game for the pre-season in the NEAFL.