Paddy McCartin to play for Swans' reserves

Do you mean governor of Texas Abbott? A tree fell on his back not his head.

Yep. Tony Abbott is a poster boy for CTE.

Does Abbott qualify?

Concussion is most critical. The other one a Dr told me about was the scans all the players have. He believes it should be investigated however the AFL did not want to turn over the leaf when they were approached. The players are regularly scanned for injuries and those scans have radiation/toxins in many. It is not ideal - ie we have one scan every 10 years, AFL players may have 10 in one year...

You’re dead on thom. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is far more insidious than any of the prominent media figures are willing to admit

Yeah but what the swans and the giants used to do was they would take players from Sydney AFL premier division sides.

What about the poor fella on his knees that was Slapped in the face by Sam ???

Would be interesting to compare talls drafted at no one to those selected later in the draft interms of career longevity , Jack Riewoldt comes to mind .Steven Wells drafted many premiership players at Geelong on the back of Senior football experience ( Taylor , Rooke , Enright ) .Apparently at TAC level key backs / forwards play one out to display marking skills etch to recruiters .Given the majority of draft picks from Victoria are part of the APS particularly the high picks makes you wonder how many draft picks have played against men before playing in the AFL.

Good comment re Sam Newman Thom never thought about it on those lines .Multiple concussions leading to brain impairment can be a legal defense in some countries .

McDonald is already physically ready. Played every WAFL game last year and was one goal away from the Bernie Naylor medal (top WAFL goal scorer).

I hope Paddy succeeds, yet I don’t think he will. CTE is far more ubiquitous than any of us are willing to admit. If Polly Farmer, Danny Frawley and Shane Tuck had it, how many other footballers will turn out to have had it? Dollars to donuts Sam Newman has it!

Let me make a couple of adjustments there. The AFL side will have a non-playing emergency who will travel when they play away and most likely be unavailable for reserves at home as they play before the seniors and sometimes away. The reserves will also have 23 players, so there will be 46 fit humans required each week for Sydney’s two teams. The 14 extra VFL players may include some U19s that may be available for both VFL and NAB League. Some may play for neither. I speak from experience having followed the NEAFL. Whether Sydney decide to fill their 44 man roster or not comes down to whether they want to save that portion of their salary cap or put Paddy on their VFL salary cap. Every bit counts.

There's every chance your judgment on both matters is correct. I am expressing my opinion based on what seems reasonable to me, but I am disadvantaged in viewing the situation from afar. I'm sure that the people in charge of player welfare and management at the Swans are taking the approach that they think is best for Paddy, and are in a better position to do so. The Swans currently have 43 players on their AFL list. That's just one short of the forty-four players that are needed to take the field for both the Swans' AFL and VFL sides on any one weekend. AFL-listed players who are not selected in the 22 for the AFL side should be playing every VFL round when they are fit and the Swans would be hoping for as few injuries as possible at any one time. It's still unlikely that all 43 players will be fit to take the field in any one round. There are 14 additional players, including Paddy, signed specifically for the Swans' VFL side. It's also unlikely that all 14 of the VFL-specific players will be able to play every VFL round unless there is an undesirable run of luck with injuries to the AFL-listed players. Depending upon where and when each game is being played, there may be AFL-listed players who are emergencies for the AFL team and they can't play for the VFL side. Being a little bit under the radar both personally and publicly in a rugby league heartland and playing in the second tier competition off an AFL list may be initially helpful for Paddy, but when fit and ready he also will also need to be given the opportunity to play regularly in the VFL to shake off the rust and polish his skills for a possible career resurrection.

A lot of tall players are drafted at a position better than their skills dictate. Half the ruckman in the league are too uncoordinated to hit their foot with the ball.

I think that part of it is that they’re the ones who grow the quickest and recruiting someone at number 1 you’re expected to come in and be a difference maker. I think that the swans have taken a good measure with paddy where they aren’t expecting him to come in and play but they need to create a positive environment

Being a No1 draft pick seems like it has been a poisoned chalice for a key forward, but in reality it's just a bit of bad luck that many of those players have had serious injuries. I wonder whether taller players are on average more prone to injuries either due to their physical proportions or due to the role that they play in a team. I note that a list of key forwards taken at No 1 since 2000 includes: Nick Riewoldt (2000); Jack Watts (2008); Jonathan Patton (2011); Tom Boyd (2013); Paddy McCartin (2014). Have I missed any? Other talls taken at No 1 include ruckman, Matthew Kreuzer (2007), and key defender, Jacob Weitering (2015). Paddy seems to have the drive to succeed which is just as important as having the ability. If he gets a good run at playing consistently, he may yet carve out a successful career worthy of a high draft pick over a shorter time frame even if other players in his draft year end up being more valuable in hindsight over a longer time frame. Unless there is a clear standout player in any draft year, more often than not I reckon it would be a fluke for the player selected at No 1 to actually end up being the best player from that draft year. You would still expect that a No 1 draft pick would end up being amongst the best crop of players from that year. So if the Swans think it's OK from a health perspective to sign up Paddy to play VFL, why wouldn't you sign him up as a rookie for the year to play AFL? Key forwards don't grow on trees even if they too often seem to be planted in the rehabilitation room. Whether Paddy's latest campaign to resume his AFL career is successful or not, I just hope that Paddy is able to stay free from the effects of concussion. I hope that he errs on the side of caution if he finds that, in his eagerness to play, he isn't as resilient to the effects head knocks as his medical tests have led him to believe. Compromising with known risks to one's health and future wellbeing is just not worth it.

Good luck to him .Drafting key forwards with the no one pick has been a poison chalice over the last decade or so .

It is great the Swans are supporting him, and I wish him all the best. A great story if it plays out, and one all footy fans can enjoy. Also, think McDonald is going to be tested hard early... which again will be something exciting.

I hope that Paddy McCartin's comeback is successful. However, I hope that he continues to wear protective headgear while playing. He will receive contact to the head at some stage during a game, even if it is from the arm or fist of a spoiling defender. There is always the risk of a head clash in contests too. My understanding is that the order of selections by clubs in the mid-season draft is based upon the position on the 2021 ladder at the time of the draft. If the Swans happen to get off to a flying start in the seniors and Paddy shows more than his worth in the reserves, the Swans may not get an opportunity to select him in the mid-season draft if he is nabbed by a club with an earlier selection. If there is not such a rule already in place for the mid-season draft, perhaps a team should have first access to a player who is playing in their reserves. That would seem fair, since they've given that particular player a chance. Lance Franklin (34), Callum Sinclair (31) and Sam Reid (29) are in the veteran stage of their careers and, when he can get on the park, only Franklin is consistently threatening on the scoreboard. On the Swans' list there seems to be a large age gap in the key forward department that needs to be filled. Paddy (24) would seem to fit inside this zone and be on the cusp of his theoretically most productive years as are similar aged players on the Swans' list, like Tom Papley and Isaac Heeney. Despite having only played 35 AFL games, he is scoring approximately a goal per game (34), which seems to be more than Sinclair and Reid have been consistently achieving. Hayden McLean (22) and Joel Amartey (21) may develop well and look promising, but are yet to prove they consistently be able to produce at AFL level. Logan McDonald (19) is probably several years away from being physically ready to be the No 1 key forward. Tom McCartin (21) is being groomed for a key defensive position and Nick Blakey (20) is still slightly built and looks more likely to be a midfielder with some time forward as well. If I were the Swans' list manager and I had liked what I had seen in his training so far, unless the Swans get first call on him at the mid-season draft, I would add Paddy to the senior list now to fill the last available position. Paddy may be high risk, but he's also got the potential to produce a higher return than for any loss that may occur in selecting him. It may increase the chances of the Swans' rate of improvement in becoming a premiership force once again. The key forward stocks can then be rationalised, as required, at year's end and additional needs addressed.

Surely this is one story that fans of every club hope will provide inspiration and joy. Good luck, Paddy.