St Kilda forward Paddy McCartin has been put on hold indefinitely to fully recover after suffering his sixth concussion since 2014.
McCartin suffered his latest head knock playing for the Saints' VFL side Sandringham, against Coburg. The young forward attacked a loose ball when his opponent accidentally collected his head. It took a moment for McCartin to get back on his feet and leave the field, where he was given a concussion test and subsequently failed. "I'm going to have a couple more weeks off," McCartin told reporters at Seaford on Wednesday. "There's a few things, just baseline testing and things like that, where I'm not quite 100 per cent. "With the head stuff, it's pretty important that that's all 100 per cent spot on. "I'm just going to have to a few more weeks off and reassess then." The 21-year old stated that he felt he was recovering well and that he was still training despite not playing at any level. "Feeling really good, feel fine. I'm doing all the training. Probably more of a training than what I would in-season normally, when I'm playing. "That's really positive and I'm feeling good." St Kilda football manager Jamie Cox revealed to saints.com.au McCartin was not participating in contact training, but stated that he will be reassessed in the next few weeks to determine if he will return to full training. "Paddy remains symptomatically well and has recently stepped up to non-contact training drills," Cox said. "However, recent comprehensive testing has revealed he is not quite back to baseline levels, so he will be held back from returning to play in the short term and assessed further in the coming two-to-three weeks. "He will continue to complete non-contact drills with a view of stepping up to full training once cleared medically to resume." Despite suffering six concussions in the last three years, the 2014 No. 1 draft pick said he has not experienced any symptoms of concussions. "I haven't got any symptoms. In terms of showing physical symptoms or feeling sick or having headaches or anything like that, I'm fine," McCartin said. "There's a lot of testing for this stuff, as there should be, it's very important. There's a few of those things I haven't 100 per cent ticked off yesterday. "I was told yesterday by a specialist I'm about 95 per cent. That's the difference between playing and a couple more weeks." The full forward believes he is not more susceptible to concussions despite the total number and the three head knocks he had suffered during the 2016 season. "This is my third year now and it's a lot of footy I've missed through these things. Initially, the same with any injury I think, it's frustration, but you just take time to process things and deal with it," he said. "Everyone goes through little hurdles and stuff in their careers. You look at pretty much every player on the list, so I'm no different to them. When something happens a few times, sometimes it can get frustrating. "The important thing is, they've sort of been separate incidents each time. I don't feel like I'm more prone to them or anything like that and I've been reassured that's the case. I think I've just put my head in the wrong spot a couple of times and that's been the price I've paid." McCartin suffered a broken collarbone against Richmond in round 23 last year. He has also had knee and hamstring issues, but he said he would continue to attack the footy the same way he always has. "I won't change that. It's something I've been doing for 15 years so it will be hard to change," McCartin said. McCartin said that watching the Saints win four consecutive games for the first time since 2011 has been tough, but joked that he would not be in any rush to return. "That's been probably the toughest thing. When I sat down with (coach Alan Richardson) a couple of weeks ago after (being concussed), I said to him I felt like we were going to get on a roll. I could feel it coming and I think everyone here felt like that. "It's not like a knee or an ankle where you can sort of see it, or if you feel like you're right, you can push through it. It's something that's left to specialists and that's 100 per cent right with me because 10, 20 years down the track, I'll need my brain." McCartin was initially eyeing a 2-3 week return, but it seems at this point that the full forward may not return this season.
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