The West Adelaide Football Club is pleased to announce the signing of Joel Tippett.
Joel is a 23 year old, 197cm, 91kg, key defender who possesses great agility and athleticism. He has spent the past three years with the Gold Coast Suns, after spending two years at the Brisbane Lions.
The signing continues the Tippett connection at the West Adelaide Football Club following the selection of his older brother Kurt in the 2006 Mini Draft.
Scott Turner, GM – Football Operations said "We are pleased to have Joel on board. We have been monitoring his football now for 5 years and his all round game has come along really well. He is another experienced and quality person into the team and with his connection to the club and having played with Chris Schmidt at Brisbane he was a good fit for us."
For all enquiries please contact:
Scott Turner
Senior Football Manager
Phone: (08) 8352 4022
Talented tall puts West on a high
by Reece Homfray, The Advertiser
WEST Adelaide has put the icing on its recruiting cake by signing Gold Coast big man Joel Tippett.
Tippett, the younger brother of Crows star Kurt, yesterday flew into Adelaide to join the Bloods' pre-season training.
He trained with West and Sturt a fortnight ago but opted to join former Brisbane Lions team-mate Chris Schmidt at Richmond Oval.
Kurt is also aligned to West Adelaide via the SANFL mini-draft.
Tippett was delisted by Gold Coast after two AFL games this year and decided on the SANFL after being overlooked in Tuesday's rookie and pre-season drafts.
The key defender - who will help cover the loss of full back Jarrod Silvester, who has returned to Victoria - was determined to have another serious crack at his footy.
''I wouldn't be here if I wasn't,'' he said.
"I was pretty happy with my year (at Gold Coast), I probably played my best footy since crossing over from basketball, but that's the way it goes," he said.
''Gold Coast has a bit of a youth policy and they wanted me a bit ahead of where I was.''
Tippett has battled stress fractures in his back in the past but didn't miss a game this year.
His arrival comes as a major boost to the Bloods who are looking to end a seven-year finals drought.
"After finishing at Gold Coast I wanted to have a look at the SANFL, and with Kurt here it makes the transition easier," he said.
Tippett joins Schmidt, Taite Silverlock, Tyson Slattery, Nick Westhoff and Michael Still in joining West fresh from an AFL list this year.
"We're looking to someone to work with over a few years and he's 197cm so he's a pretty big kid now," West Adelaide football operations manager Scott Turner said.
Joel Tippett is on the Crows' radar to join his brother Kurt. Picture: David Clark