Before Tippett fronted the press for the first time since arriving in Sydney last night, McVeigh welcomed the forward to the Swans on behalf of playing group.
“On behalf of the Swans leadership group and the players, we just want to formally welcome Kurt to our footy club,” McVeigh said.
“We want to improve as a group and just because we won the premiership it doesn’t mean we don’t want to get better.
“We see Kurt as a long-term player and we’re rapt to have him on board and I’m sure after a hectic couple of months we can get out there today and get back to what he knows best, and that’s playing footy and we’re really excited about the year ahead.”
McVeigh told the media that he believed the 202cm forward was a valuable asset to the Swans line-up and was a key to the Swans continued improvement.
“It’s an exciting time as a club and we do want to improve, so to get a player of Kurt’s calibre, we need to boost our big guy department both in the forward line and ruck, and we see Kurt as one of those players and a long-term player for us,” he said.
The co-captain added that Tippett would earn his teammate’s respect through his work ethic on the field.
“We know the way he plays, we know he trains hard and works hard and we expect that from him,” he said.
“He’ll earn the players trust with the way he goes about it over the next few months and hopefully in round 12 when he can get out on the part he’ll have the players’ trust and we can go about our business.”
Tippett took part in his first pre-season training session with his new teammates this morning at Lakeside Oval and participated in running, kicking and ruck drills.
The Swans newest recruit met with a group of players last night for dinner and will tour the Swans facilities in full this afternoon.
Tippett said he was thrilled to finally be at the club and was looking forward to playing alongside his new teammates.
“The prospect of coming here and playing alongside the likes of Jarrad (McVeigh), Adam Goodes and Sam Reid is really exciting,” he said.
“I met Sam Reid last night and he’s a great guy and I look forward to playing with him in the forward line.
“I met a few of the guys here at the club and also had dinner with a few of the guys, which was great of them to take me out and to show me the place.
“I look forward to meeting many more of them today and training with them.”
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