Garry Lyon says while he was a fan of the much maligned Kurt Tippett, his ultimate recruitment by Sydney has to be deemed as unsuccessful.
The 30-year-old ruck/forward yesterday announced his retirement from football after 178 games with Adelaide and the Swans, having failed to sufficiently recover from post-season ankle surgery.
The former Melbourne captain said Tippett’s fitness issues meant we did not get to see his best, and with a large portion of their salary cap being spent on him and Lance Franklin, the Swans needed to win at least one premiership.
“He never got to be as good as he could be Kurt Tippett,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.
“I must admit I was a bit more of a pro-Tippett man than a lot of people, a lot of guys I work with over the journey who have been very anti-Kurt.
“I don’t think he got a good run at it from a fitness point of view, and in the end you have to say the recruiting of him didn’t work for Sydney. You would have to say that.
“When you invest such a large proportion of your spend on two players particularly – he and Lance Franklin you want a premiership out of it. You want at least one.”
Lyon said Tippett will be a loss for Sydney, particularly as he is yet to be convinced of the quality of their remaining ruck stocks.
“He’ll be a loss to the club. They now play one short,” he said.
“They’ve got [Sam] Naismith, [Callum] Sinclair and Darcy Cameron as their ruck options, and I’m not absolutely convinced they have that covered. Naismith is a talented player.”
Sydney football manager Tom Harley confirmed to SEN a settlement had been agreed between the club and Tippett, and they will not have to carry the entirety of the veteran’s lucrative contract.
“This is a decision by Kurt. He came to us and wanted to explore that.” he said.
“We won’t have to carry his salary for the full term of his three years remaining. He was contracted for three years prior to that, so it certainly won’t be that.”
To hear Tom Harley's chat with Garry and Tim on SEN Breakfast listen in the player below!