KURT Tippett is being subjected to death threats on Twitter after his defection from the Crows.

One Tweet says: "If you dont go to gold coast i will look for you. I will find you. And i will kill you.''



Tippett quit Adelaide this week but did not declare his intent to seek a home-coming trade to a Queensland-based club. He is fielding offers from all clubs with Sydney leading the race.



The person who sent the tweet has responded to the reaction by declaring it was a joke.

"lol at Rucci's article about death threats to @KurtTippett4 my tweet is a quote from the movie Taken which was tongue & cheek #cantbeserious," he tweeted today.



In the 2008 film Liam Neeson's character Bryan tells his daughter's kidnapper: "If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."



But the AFL Players' Association is taking the threat seriously.



“Regardless of the intent of or the motive of the person that is posting these kinds of tweets, we shouldn’t accept, we shouldn’t tolerate it," AFLPA chief Matt Finniss told 3AW this morning.



“Whether or not there is a fear that the person is going to follow through on it I don’t think any of us should condone it.



“We certainly will treat it very seriously and we will refer to the police any social media engagement that we feel goes across the line.”



Adelaide chairman Rob Chapman said the Tweets were "terrible and unacceptable''.



"How do we know it is a Crow supporter, but regardless it is shocking,'' he said.



Brendon Goddard has also been subjected to abusive tweets after leaving St Kilda to join Essendon as a free agent.





Every trade and every whisper in Department of Trades



Tippett will be the prime player in trade talks at Etihad Stadium on Monday.



Adelaide's hand in the game of poker that will unfold in trade month was strengthened yesterday when the AFL revisted the rules on Greater Western Sydney which has the first pick in the pre-season draft in December.



Crows officials feared Tippett could block a trade deal to slip to Gold Coast without compensation in the pre-season draft, where the Suns have pick No.2.



It was understood by many AFL club officials that GWS could not use its No.1 pick to claim an uncontracted Crow because it had already made a wildcard poach on Adelaide with key defender Phil Davis.



AFL legal executive Andrew Dillon says the rule stopping a second uncontracted Crow from joining GWS in the pre-season draft applied only to last year.



Another Bomber on Port's radar



Last night, Adelaide walked away from the "gentlemen's agreement" it made with Kurt Tippett.

Crows chief executive Steven Trigg yesterday told Tippett's Brisbane-based management any trade offer from Gold Coast or Brisbane will not be looked at more favourably than those from non-Queensland clubs.

Adelaide wants to claim the best deal possible for losing Tippett, Trigg said.

And the bidding for Tippett - currently led by Sydney with a $1 million-a-year deal - continues, with Carlton coach Michael Malthouse joining the race for the 25-year-old's signature.

Tippett has not yet nominated his club of preference for a trade.

media_camera Where to? Kurt Tippett has a big decision to make.



But the man who framed his contract at Adelaide, former football operations chief John Reid, yesterday publicly declared the long-stated clause that Tippett would be released to the Suns or Lions for a second-round draft pick is a myth.

"That is not in his contract," Reid told The Advertiser yesterday as he reflected on the contract that was dubbed his "farewell" gift to the Crows.

Reid was under immense pressure to retain Tippett so he could not become a wildcard target for the Suns' inaugural squad - a move that cost Adelaide its All-Australian defender, Nathan Bock.

When Reid and Trigg did agree to re-contract Tippett in 2009 they also vowed to look more favourably on trade deals once Tippett opted to return to Queensland.

Brisbane still wants Tippett



A terse long-distance call between Paris and Brisbane - between Trigg and Tippett's manager Peter Blucher - has brought an end to that agreement.

Trigg told Blucher it was no longer relevant because Tippett was not seeking a "go-home" trade but a move to the highest bidder.

Malthouse is baffled - and excited - by Tippett playing the national market rather than narrowing his options to Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

"I always thought Tippett was going to go back to the Gold Coast or Queensland because that's where he comes from," said Malthouse on radio FIVEaa.

"(If Tippett) wants to go to Melbourne, guess what, Carlton will put up their hand for him. Of course I'm going to get involved.

"Adelaide, to me, is a club on the rise. Now, all of a sudden you hear Sydney or Melbourne and I just don't get that."

Tippett, a 104-game player with Adelaide, will be a major pawn in the trade talks that open at Etihad Stadium on Monday morning.

Tippett may choose Sydney because of its million-dollar contract offer. But the Swans have to find trade subjects - players and draft picks - to satisfy the Crows.

Adelaide list manager David Noble said yesterday: "Life at the footy club will survive without Kurt Tippett ... we will get stronger and better."

If there is no deal when trade month ends on Friday, October 26, Tippett can slip to the pre-season draft pool and join Gold Coast with no compensation to the Crows.