THE RACE to secure former Adelaide forward Kurt Tippett continues to heat up with Gold Coast stamping its intentions to chase the big forward, just hours after Collingwood denied any interest in him.
On a dramatic Tuesday, Tippett announced his desire to leave Adelaide, sparking the chase from rival clubs.
The Sydney Swans are believed to be hot on the heels of Tippett, while the Brisbane Lions still hold out hope of luring him back to Queensland.
Neither club would speculate on his future.
However in a statement released on Gold Coast's website on Tuesday night, Suns football operations manager Marcus Ashcroft signalled the club's intentions.
"Kurt and his management are well aware that we would be very interested in Kurt joining the Suns," Ashcroft said.
"We plan to further discussions with Kurt Tippett's management in the coming days in the hope that the Suns can provide an opportunity that Kurt wishes to pursue."
It is the first public statement the Suns have made regarding their desire to land Tippett despite constantly been linked to him.
Collingwood, which signed West Coast free agent Quinten Lynch on Tuesday, denied it was interested in Tippett at all.
Football manager Geoff Walsh said rumours linking the Pies with the 25-year-old were "not coming from us".
"It's the first time I've heard it," Walsh said.
Tippett ended months of speculation by confirming he wanted to leave the Crows after six seasons.
He is originally from the Gold Coast, where his family still lives, while the Lions expressed a desire to chase support for the ageing Jonathan Brown earlier this year.
As Tippett is not a free agent, a trade will have to be negotiated in the Gillette AFL Trade Period, which starts next Monday.
The Lions did not want to contribute to the rumours, with a club spokesman saying their position on Tippett had been well documented, and they "would not provide a commentary" on any updates.
It is likely a multi-club trade would have to be sought in the trade period for the Lions to land the Queenslander.
The wildcard into the mix is now the Swans, although coach John Longmire said on Tuesday they would not comment on players from other clubs.
"There are a lot of rumours around at this time of year and we simply won't be party to ongoing comment," Longmire said.
If Tippett were to choose anywhere other than the Suns or Lions, it would be an apparent backflip as the hulking forward was believed to be keen to 'come home'.
It has the potential to mirror a situation involving former Lion Mitch Clark at the end of last year, who requested a trade home to Fremantle, before deciding to accept an offer from Melbourne.
If Tippett is chasing the anonymity of the Sydney market, he may be surprised how little attention he got if he came back to Queensland.
Just ask Gary Ablett.
Peter Blucher, of Tippett's management group Velocity Sports, said the 202cm, 104kg forward was still deciding on his future.
"There's no time frame on it, but we don't have until Christmas. Trade week begins next Monday … it would seem logical to have something in place prior to then," Blucher said.
He was not prepared to speculate on how many clubs had expressed interest in Tippett.
"I'm not going to discuss anything about anything else, I just think that's the right thing for me to do."
Click here for the Gillette AFL Trade Period hub
Click here for Trade Machine
Michael Whiting covers Brisbane Lions news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting
