Luckless Sydney Swans defender Paddy McCartin has been ruled out for the rest of the AFL season as he continues to recover from his latest concussion.
The 27-year-old has been out of the senior line-up since suffering a head hit in the round four match against Port Adelaide.
The Sporting News has all the latest regarding McCartin's future.
When will Paddy McCartin play AFL again?
McCartin's AFL return date is unknown after it was announced he will miss the rest of the 2023 season and will remain sidelined indefinitely with Sydney revealing he was still feeling ongoing concussion symptoms from a collision versus the Power in round four.
According to the Swans, McCartin is yet to make a full recovery from his latest concussion, despite commencing light exercise, and was still suffering mild issues stemming from the hit.
The Swans noted it was the first significant incident McCartin had suffered since returning to AFL in 2021.
"In discussions with Paddy, our medical team and external specialists, we all felt the decision to sit out the remainder of the season was the right one to allow Paddy to focus on making a successful return to full health," Sydney executive general manager Charlie Gardiner said.
"We have adopted a very cautious approach to Paddy’s recovery timeline to this point and while Paddy has made progress – he has resumed some light exercise and is involved day-to-day at the club – he continues to experience some mild symptoms and his focus remains centred around becoming symptom free.
"Paddy is a very popular figure at our club, and we are all behind him in his recovery. He will be given all the time and support he needs and will continue to work with our medical team and external specialists over the coming months, with his overall health and wellbeing our number one priority."
What happened during Paddy McCartin's latest concussion?
Following a long history with head knocks - which saw McCartin delisted from St Kilda to deal with the implications - the former number one pick contested a loose ball against Todd Marshall and came off second best early in the two-point loss at the SCG.
The incident looked quite innocuous but the outcome was hard to watch.
McCartin was then taken from the field and removed from the game by coach John Longmire without any Head Injury Assessment (HIA) given his wretched run over the past eight years.
"He's been visibly shaken."
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Paddy McCartin comes off with a head injury. 🤕
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Paddy McCartin concussion history
McCartin played six games at AFL level in his first season 2015 and was quickly re-signed by the Saints until the end of 2018.
However, the year following was marred by three separate concussions to the key forward, derailing his year.
Round three against Collingwood saw the first of three head knocks, keeping him out of the side until round nine where he returned for Essendon.
The next head knock was round 11 (Adelaide), followed by round 15 (Gold Coast) which limited him to 11 games in 2016.
Attempting to get back into the senior side, McCartin unfortunately copped another hit to the head in the VFL for Sandringham Zebras, resulting in his sixth concussion in four years.
His eighth came in St Kilda colours in the JLT Community Series against the Western Bulldogs prior to the 2019 season.
McCartin played a total of 35 games in six seasons before moving on from the club.
Although moving into new colours - Sydney - the unfortunate run wouldn't end there, as he failed another concussion test last year.
McCartin's ninth head knock came against Hawthorn in round six of the 2022 season.
How old is Paddy McCartin?
Paddy McCartin is 26 years old.
He was drafted with pick one in the 2014 AFL Draft by St Kilda.
After being delisted at the end of 2019 by the Saints (due to concussion-related issues), Sydney took a chance on the-then 25-year-old, signing him to their VFL side at the beginning of 2021.
Impressed with his progress - and after receiving the tick of approval from the doctors - the Swans drafted McCartin as a rookie on the eve of 2022.
He, alongside brother Tom, quickly became a formidable duo in the backline, missing one game and assisting the club to reach the grand final before losing to the Cats.
