Swans not shutting AFL door on Tippett

Sydney haven’t totally ruled out trying to entice Kurt Tippett out of retirement to ease their ruck shortage.

But they will give Callum Sinclair and Darcy Cameron first shot at filling the ruck vacancy.

The Swans are down on numbers in the vital position with 30-year-old Tippett retiring in January due to a serious lingering ankle injury and Sam Naismith suffering a season-ending knee injury on Wednesday.

Tippett played 179 games across 10 seasons with Adelaide and then Swans, and remains on Sydney’s list.

“Technically Kurt could play, given he is still on the list,” Swans’ head of football Tom Harley said.

“However, he did retire with one of the reasons being the lengthy recovery from an ankle reconstruction.

“At this stage we’ll be looking to work with our squad and clearly this presents an opportunity for the likes of Callum Sinclair and Darcy Cameron.”

Sinclair, 28, has played 35 games for Sydney over the past two years and tallied 29 appearances for West Coast in the three seasons prior.

He has been used primarily as a back-up ruckman and tall forward.

West Australian 22-year-old Cameron was a third-round draft pick in 2016 and showed good signs in the 2017-pre season.

Finger and shoulder injuries stalled his progress and he didn’t play a senior game.

However, Sydney were sufficiently impressed by his potential to grant him a contract extension till the end of the 2019 season.

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