Fears are growing for Paddy McCartin’s AFL career after the Sydney defender suffered what is believed to be his tenth concussion in their Round 4 loss to Port Adelaide.
McCartin was assisted from the field in the first quarter against the Power after an innocuous incident, and substituted out immediately.
Swans coach John Longmire said immediately after the game the quick substitution was precautionary, given McCartin’s long history of head knocks, with the 26-year old not even receiving the mandatory head injury assessment given his obviously groggy state.
The Swans will confirm in coming days whether McCartin has indeed sustained another concussion.
"He's been visibly shaken."
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) April 8, 2023
Paddy McCartin comes off with a head injury. ????
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Concussion expert and professor at La Trobe University Dr Alan Pearce has urged McCartin to retire, saying the long-term health ramifications are too great a risk.
“While I’m not privy to Paddy’s latest concussion, [given] his history of this injury, he needs his medical doctors to discuss with him the risks to his long-term brain health, and seriously consider retirement,” Pearce told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“It’s a very difficult decision for Paddy psychologically, and he would need support to deal with this, but medical retirement should be considered.
“Athletes need protecting from themselves.”
Fox Footy‘s Leigh Montagna, a former teammate of McCartin’s at St Kilda who witnessed a number of his early-career head knocks first hand, tends to agree.
“It was confronting, it was concerning and it was quite alarming… to see I suppose the ease with which he got concussed from such an innocuous incident,” Montagna said on First Crack.
“No doubt there are some big decisions that are going to have to be made in the coming weeks.”
Montagna admitted he was ‘surprised’ McCartin attempted an AFL comeback with the Swans, having stepped away from the Saints at the end of 2019 after a string of head knocks, and that he should consider his future once he retires before making the decision on whether to continue playing.
“What I would say is I have witnessed friends and teammates that are really struggling post-football partly due to concussion,” Montagna said.
“It has affected their life and in some ways quite severely.
“The one thing he can’t do with his decision-making is project to what his health and his life will look like in another 25 years – that’s the hardest part.
“I suppose the question is: What would a 50-year-old Paddy McCartin say to himself tomorrow? Is it really worth it?”
However, former great Garry Lyon, a family friend of McCartin’s, has called for calm, saying the 26-year old needs to make his own decisions about his future in the game.
“I’ve spoken to him today and the family and he feels good today,” Lyon told Fox Footy.
“They’ve obviously got a lot of decisions to make ahead of them, but lets not race to try and be the first to retire Paddy McCartin.
“Speaking of interventions and trying to protect him from himself paints a picture that he’s out there as a rogue just doing things on his own. He’s got a fantastic, beautiful supportive family, the Sydney Footy Club would be right behind him, they’ll put his health at the forefront and always will.
“Let’s just cut him some slack.”
Paddy McCartin of the Swans receives attention from a trainer. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/AFL Photos/via Getty Images )
Lynch’s injury, Tribunal double blow in massive loss for Tigers
Star Richmond forward Tom Lynch is set for a lengthy stint on the sidelines after fracturing his right foot in Saturday’s five-point loss to the Western Bulldogs.
Lynch will undergo surgery, and the Tigers will reassess the injury after that before putting a timeline on his return.
Lynch kicked two goals in the opening term against the Bulldogs before sustaining the foot fracture in the second quarter.
The 30-year-old clearly struggled after that, tallying just two disposals in the second half.
The disastrous injury news has softened the blow of Lynch being sent straight to the AFL Tribunal for the bump that concussed Bulldogs defender Alex Keath on Saturday night.
Lynch is facing a minimum three-match suspension after electing to bump instead of going for the mark in the first quarter of the five-point loss, but is unlikely to see any extra time on the sidelines.
Keath was running with the flight of the ball and didn’t have a chance to protect himself as Lynch made contact.
He was ruled out for the rest of the game with concussion.
The incident was assessed as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.
Coach Damien Hardwick threw his support behind Lynch after the Tigers’ loss, miffed that his collision with Keath was even being talked about with regard to a possible suspension.
“What for? For being tough in the contest?” Hardwick said.
Lynch’s injury is a huge blow to Richmond’s hopes of becoming a genuine premiership threat this year.
The key forward kicked 63 goals last season in his best return since joining the Tigers at the end of 2018, and his absence will place extra pressure on veteran Jack Riewoldt.
Riewoldt was surprisingly rested against the Bulldogs, and is set to return for next Friday’s Gather Round clash with Sydney at Adelaide Oval.
Hardwick said it was important to rest 34-year-old Riewoldt and the club’s other ageing stars, much like Geelong did last year on the way to the premiership.
“We’ve got guys who are mid 30s, so they’re not going to be able to play every game, and we don’t want them to play every game,” Hardwick said.
“The players have got a good understanding of that. I think it’s one thing our industry haven’t got their head around.
“We want to keep the good players going for longer, so it means they’re not going to play 22 games.
“The game’s as hard as it has ever been. So we can sit there and keep trying to do it, and we can keep getting injuries.
“Or we can sit there and try to manage those guys and try to get them right for hopefully the pointy part of the season.”
Scott calls for team naming shake-up after Bombers veteran’s last-minute snub
Essendon coach Brad Scott has urged the AFL to allow clubs to pick 23-player teams rather than listing 22 and naming a substitute from their emergencies.
The substitute was this season adjusted from being a medical to a tactical change.
Clubs either have to drop a player to their emergencies then name them as the substitute on game day, or pick a substitute who didn’t play the previous week.
Essendon made a late change on Sunday against GWS in dropping ex-skipper Dyson Heppell, whose form had been under scrutiny, to substitute in order to bring in ruckman Andrew Phillips.
Scott said Essendon had that call ticked off by the AFL ahead of their 11.22 (88) to 11.9 (75) victory.
“To be perfectly honest, we had a situation where Phillips didn’t play last week so we didn’t have to name our sub out,” Scott said.
“Whereas other teams, if you’re going to drop someone or make them the sub, you’ve got to name them as omitted and we certainly didn’t want to do that with Heppell but we felt that Heppell was the right sub for us this week.”
Dyson Heppell and Zach Merrett. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said it was “farcical” the Tigers had to name eventual substitute Trent Cotchin outside their team against the Western Bulldogs when they always planned to use him, while Kangaroos coach Alastair Clarkson also queried the “unfortunate quirk”.
Meanwhile, Geelong coach Chris Scott clarified Ollie Henry was not omitted but would be the substitute against Hawthorn on Monday.
“Yep. It just makes sense (to be able to name 23),” former AFL general manager of football Brad Scott said.
“But having worked at the AFL I know that the lawyers would hate that because they’ve got to re-write the entire rulebook because the rulebook’s written around 22 players.
“So they’ve got to change a lot of things.
“But at the end of the day, it’s doable to change it and I think it’s just logical because having to name Trent Cotchin as omitted when he’s not omitted just doesn’t feel right.
“It just creates unnecessary angst across the board.”
Scott said when he was at the AFL the league asked clubs whether they preferred five on the bench or four plus a substitute – with the majority wanting the latter, to his surprise.
Scott praised Heppell’s reaction, while stressing he was still “very important” to Essendon despite being subbed off and on in recent weeks.
“He’s spoken to the players that they’re the rules and we’ve got to play to them and we want the result for the team and he’s led the way there,” Scott said.
Scott said Essendon wanted to play rucks Phillips and Sam Draper together and liked the versatility as substitute of Heppell, who replaced Sam Weideman (concussion) in the second quarter.
Geelong respond to alleged historical abuse case
Legal proceedings have begun against AFL club Geelong over a historical claim of alleged sexual abuse from the early 1980s.
The Cats released a statement on Sunday saying they had become aware that legal proceedings had commenced in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
“The club understands that a historical claim of serious sexual abuse has been made by a person who was engaged with the club’s under 19’s team in the early 1980s,” Geelong said in a statement.
“Our first thought is with the individual, their family and the community and the club is taking this matter extremely seriously.
“As legal proceedings have now commenced and with respect to all parties, the club is unable to make any further comment at this stage.”
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