Adelaide full-forward Kurt Tippett collected his first bag of four goals yesterday to share top billing for Gold Coasters in Round 8 with North Melbourne’s Carrara hero David Hale.
In just his eighth AFL game, Tippett booted one goal in each quarter of the Crows' 22.18 (150) to 11.8 (74) flogging of a hapless Melbourne at AAMI Stadium to reward a vote of confidence and a significant role change from the Adelaide brainstrust.
Fresh from a family 21st birthday celebration at home on the Gold Coast over the first bye of the AFL season, Tippett played exclusively as a full-forward for the first time after Crows selectors opted for Ivan Maric to support Jonathan Griffin in the ruck.
And he did it beautifully with a contribution more significant than his five kicks, two handballs and three marks suggest.
He provided an excellent target deep in the forward line, invariably bringing the ball to ground whenever he was unable to mark it, and finished with 4.1.
He could easily have finished with five or even six goals, missing one straight forward shot and not being paid a mark which TV commentators suggested was clearly a mark in the final term.
Yet still he was named third-best on the Crows’ website behind Brett Burton and Bernie Vince, and won lavish praise from coach Neil Craig.
"We were really happy with Kurt kicking four," Craig said at his post-game media conference. "And I thought Ivan, particularly in the second half, was very good for us. It was a good challenge for those guys because I thought Mark Jamar, and particularly, Jeff White, were very good.
"We're happy with the balance that we got from the tall guys today. We got out of the game what we were hoping to. Maric at the moment gives Griffin some rest and recovery during the game and enables us to play Kurt up forward.
"We want to develop Kurt as a forward. We know he can ruck, and that will come later on in his career," Craig said. "That doesn't mean we won't play him in the ruck at all this year, but we really want him to spend some time up forward so he can develop that skill set that he's going to need.
"It doesn't necessarily mean that structure [of three talls] will be the same every week. We're really keen on Griffin and Maric also being able to play up forward. We don't want to be a club where our ruckmen can only play in the ruck."
Tippett's four-goal haul, which replicated his effort in the NAB Cup grand final loss to St Kilda, took his premiership season goal tally to 13 from eight games. He sits equal third on the Adelaide goal-kicking list, level with Jason Porplyzia and behind Burton (26) and captain Simon Goodwin (23).
Hale kicked a season-high three goals to go with 16 possessions, 10 marks and 12 ruck hit-outs in a brilliant performance against West Coast.
Up against the game’s number one ruckman in Dean Cox when playing in the ruck and often picked up by West Coast captain Darren Glass when he pushed forward, Hale was among the Roos’ best in their heart-stopping six-point win over the Eagles.
Hawthorn’s Michael Osborne continued his rich vein of form with 19 possessions and two goals in their 17-point win over Port Adelaide in Launceston, while Ben Hudson picked up 13 possessions and 12 hit-outs in the Bulldogs’ stunning come-from-behind win over Fremantle in Perth.
Brisbane’s Daniel Merrett did a serviceable job on boom full-forward Brendan Fevola in the Lions’ 33-point win over Carlton at Telstra Dome, and Luke McGuane collected nine possessions and five tackles in Richmond’s loss to Geelong at the MCG.
Just six Gold Coasters played in the AFL over the weekend, with St Kilda pair Nick Riewoldt and Sam Gilbert joining Richmond’s Andrew Raines and Melbourne’s Ricky Petterd on the casualty list.
