Tippett ended months of speculation over his future on Monday, informing Adelaide he wouldn’t be renewing his contract with the Club next season. The 25-year-old is yet to notify the Crows which club he intends to play for in 2013.
Dangerfield and his teammates learned of Tippett’s departure on Monday morning. The All-Australian Crow quickly took to Twitter saying, “Disappointing day for the AFC. Club has done everything it could. But you have to want to be a part of where we are going. #2013 we r coming!”
“My tweet was more about speaking to our fans and reassuring them that, yes, we’ve lost a player but the Club did absolutely everything it could to secure Kurt for next season,” Dangerfield told FIVEaa on Tuesday.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to manage 48 players. We’ll move on as a Club.”
Gold Coast and Brisbane, as well as Carlton, have all expressed public interest in securing Queensland-born Tippett’s signature. Premiers, the Sydney Swans, have also been linked to Tippett, but the Club is yet to confirm or deny whether it has made the key forward an offer.
Dangerfield, who resisted overtures from clubs in his native Victoria to re-sign with Adelaide this year, said he would be disappointed if Tippett was leaving to join a club outside of Queensland.
“If Kurt goes back to Queensland I can understand it. He’s been away from his family for a long time,” he said.
“If he moves somewhere else I’d say there will be a few disappointed players at the Club. Moving home is one thing but moving to another club and into a different environment is another.”
The Crows, who did their due diligence in preparing for Tippett’s possible departure, will focus on securing the best outcome for the Club. Trade week officially begins on Monday and runs through until 2pm on October 26.
Tippett’s place on the list will be replaced either via the trade period or next month’s AFL national draft, but his position in the forward line could be filled from within.
Recruited from Essendon in last year’s trade period, Josh Jenkins showed promise in 11 AFL games this year. Athletic utility Shaun McKernan, entering his fifth season at West Lakes, also started the season strongly before missing games through suspension and injury.
“I have no doubt that we have players within our own stocks, who can play a similar role to what Kurt has for the team,” Dangerfield said.
“Josh Jenkins proved that this season when he came in and played a few games when Kurt was absent. Josh has only really played three years of footy. Before that he was playing basketball with the Townsville Crocs.
“He’s an incredibly gifted athlete. If we allow him to develop - and we’ll certainly be putting plenty of resources into him over the pre-season - he could be a pretty special player for us. He’s 199cm and a real power forward. When he discovers the strength that he’s got, similar to Taylor Walker this season, he could be pretty special.
“Shaun McKernan is another. We haven’t seen a huge amount of Shaun because he’s been struck down by injuries over the past three seasons. Shaun’s an incredibly talented player, who can do some special things similar to what his brother (Corey) did when he was playing. If we can get him injury free, he’s someone Crows fans can look forward to seeing.”
Tippett will be the fifth change to Adelaide’s squad this offseason, following the departures of Chris Knights (Richmond via free agency), Michael Doughty (retired), Brad Symes and rookie Will Young (both delisted).
