JOHN Longmire and Sydney Swans chief executive Andrew Ireland flew to the Gold Coast to meet with Kurt Tippett just two days after the Swans' premiership triumph, but the daring bid to secure the key forward's signature has its origins back in August.

Adelaide tabled the richest five-year deal in the club's history in an effort to keep Tippett at West Lakes beyond 2012, but those contract talks were shelved in late August, after he suffered a run of concussions, with little progress having been made.

The decision acted as a circuit breaker against the constant speculation that affected Tippett's form and threatened to derail the Crows' finals campaign, but Ireland also saw an opportunity.

"In late August when we agreed with Adelaide that we would put the talks off until the end of the season, a couple of days thereafter I had a call from Andrew Ireland … saying that they would certainly be in the mix and keen to talk if he decided to leave Adelaide," Tippett's manager Peter Blucher said on Melbourne radio station SEN on Saturday.

"Obviously he made that decision and I've got to tell you it was a very, very hard decision in itself … it's very hard to look in the eyes of teammates who you've just played a preliminary final with - they were a whisker away from playing in a Grand Final - and say, 'I'm leaving'.

"Andrew Ireland and John Longmire interrupted their premiership celebrations to go to the Gold Coast and see Kurt and his parents and we had a long, detailed and outstanding conversation.

"Kurt went away surfing for a few days, came back yesterday and said, 'Bingo'."

The Swans' offer is believed to have been the most lucrative deal on the table, but Blucher said it was the "complete package" offered by the Sydney club at Monday's three-hour meeting that swayed Tippett from returning home to the Gold Coast to play with the Suns.
    
"I guess that was indicative of the commitment and professionalism that the club showed," he said of Monday's meeting at the home of Tippett's parents.

"They came and we somehow managed to get in the front door of the Tippett house without being seen, better still we got away without being seen. We sat down for three hours and we got away with it.

"At the end of the day there was nothing to hide - there was no commitment at that time - it was just a presentation and he made his decision late yesterday."

Blucher said the opportunity to lead a more balanced lifestyle from one of Sydney's beachside suburbs rather than the fishbowl of Adelaide and the opportunity to play under Longmire were also key factors in the decision.

"They are such a very, very good football club and he gets a chance to play his footy at a great club in an environment where he is particularly comfortable," he said.

"He was born in Sydney, he's got family and friends - lots of them - in Sydney and he loves the environment. It ticked all the boxes.

"Each of the three clubs - Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sydney - ticked lots of boxes, but even for Kurt to play under John Longmire, who actually played the same role that he plays, was a bit of a thing for him because he's never played under a coach who was more than about 5-foot-9."   

The Swans will still need to satisfy the Crows with appropriate compensation during the Gillette AFL Trade Period before Tippett can complete his move to the 2012 premiers.

Jason Phelan is a reporter for afl.com.au. Follow him on Twitter @AFL_JasonPhelan.