Bloods transfusion

The former Eagle arrived in the Harbour City by way of Richmond and his 76-game career has been heavily punctuated by trades at the end of the 2007 and 2011 seasons.

Twice he’s slipped from senior lists – and twice he’s been picked up.

When the Swans were considering new recruits 12 months ago, there was clearly something present that cut Morton out as a prospect; most likely his 94 goals at Tigerland.

But upon his transfer north to Sydney, he wasn’t exactly fated to hold the Premiership cup aloft.

He would have to graft for months in the reserves to prove his talent.

More importantly, however, he had to prove himself worthy of hauling on the Bloods guernsey. And if you believe what you hear on television, it was the playing group he had to prove himself to.

The Bloods boys plain old didn’t trust Morton to run out alongside them. They needed convincing the boy from the west was made of the right stuff.

Rather than buying his way into the top flight through weight of goals alone, it was reported that Morton needed to demonstrate an improved work ethic and, presumably, commit to the dark art of defensive forward play; scrap, scrag, smother, tackle, tackle, tackle – then mark and goal.

To his eternal credit, Morton’s name appeared on the team sheet to replace injured Ben McGlynn late in the year.

He played five games in total and kicked five goals – including two in the Grand Final – and his name is now immortalised as a 2012 premiership player.

And now in the shadows of the post of the month-long swap meet we know as the Gillette AFL Trade Period, Morton’s tale may just prove telling in the curious case of Kurt Tippett.

Touted as a likely Swan for the best part of three weeks now, Tippett’s trade has loomed large.

Initial concerns in the press centred around an AFL concession that may have allowed the Swans to offer the want-away Crow an extra-special deal.

More recently, though, the news is all about allegedly dodgy dealings between the tall forward and his current employer that may yet compromise any move to the SCG.

It has been reported that a 'suspect' clause was agreed to outside the scope of Tippett’s playing contract at Adelaide, effectively making it simpler for him to engineer a trade of his choice when his time at the Crows came to an end.

The AFL is investigating the allegations and it remains to be seen how the two parties involved will be dealt with should evidence of any wrongdoing be unearthed by AFL integrity officer Brett Clothier.

Now there’s fresh scuttlebutt that a deal was done to pay brother Joel to relocate to Adelaide to help ease former Queenslander Kurt’s homesickness in South Australia.

Such a move may be considered in breach of salary cap regulations – and if it is, will doubtless see the Crows, and Tippett, plunged into a nasty game of recrimination and sanction.

With the clock ticking towards trade deadline day, there’s no guarantee the AFL will have concluded its investigation in time for the Swans to be comfortable with any trade the Crows have tabled.

Perhaps more importantly, though, the current mire enveloping the 25-year-old key forward may be of particular concern to the Swans playing group.

It seems highly unlikely an ensemble that prides itself on old-school values like grit, graft and gratitude will welcome with open arms a player whose commitment – both mental and physical – has at times been called into question and who may now come to any new club complete with an AFL-imposed penalty for playing by his own rules.

To make it stick at the Swans, Tippett may just need a complete ‘Bloods transfusion’. 

Given the controversy dogging cycling at present, the concept alone may be the source of some scorn, but from the outside looking in it does seem that Tippett needs something to dramatically change the cut of his cloth if he’s to make it work as a ‘Swannie’.