Adelaide ruckman Ivan Maric says he "knows" Kurt Tippett will stay with the club despite his conspicuous absence from a bevy of young Adelaide players to sign new contracts this week.
Bernie Vince, Andy Otten, Taylor Walker, Myke Cook and Tony Armstrong, plus seasoned swingman Scott Stevens, have each agreed to deals to remain at the club - all believed to be two-year deals.
Tippett had been in negotiations at the same time as the others, but elected to postpone talks until the end of the season, adding fuel to speculation about his chances of being poached by the new GC17 franchise, destined to become the AFL's newest club.
However, Maric said that the signs all pointed to Tippett having a long career at Adelaide, having bought a house there and seriously considered having his Queensland-based girlfriend move down.
"I think that he's very happy here, he's bought a house, his girlfriend's talking about moving down here," Maric said yesterday.
"We'd all be very surprised if he left, we all want him here as well, so I think, no, I know he'll stay at the Adelaide Crows.
"I know he will."
