The AFL will come knocking on St. Kilda's door in relation to comments made by recently delisted forward Paddy McCartin about discovering a loophole in pre-season concussion testing.
The Age reports AFL football operations boss Steve Hocking was unimpressed by McCartin saying he'd manage to skip his way around the testing in the past to help him play through head injuries in a recent radio interview.
Hocking is expected to meet with the league's medical officer Peter Harcourt this week to discuss the matter, and subsequently, approach St. Kilda about their concussion protocols.
McCartin, who was recently delisted by the Saints to allow him to take care of his health and wellbeing, has suffered eight concussions since he was picked up with the no. 1 pick in the 2014 AFL draft.
In an interview with SEN on Tuesday, McCartin detailed how he'd managed to bludge his way through pre-season concussion testing to help him get back to playing later in the season.
"I think the AFL has done a good job in improving testing... obviously every time someone sort of gets slightly concussed... they're really thorough," McCartin told SEN.
“I think some of the stuff we do earlier in the season – baseline testing and all these computer things – you can bludge your way through it, if you want to.
“I’ve had so many concussions, and especially early in my career, that I’m worried about missing games because I was worried what people would think about me, all that kind of crap.
“I’ve done the testing worse on purpose, so that if I did my baseline again, I’m starting from a worse spot from where I was before … I didn’t try as hard.”
Asked if he was the only player doing it, the full forward said: "If I was doing it, then probably others would too. Maybe I was the only one, but probably not."
After being delisted by St. Kilda, McCartin will spend next year managing his health and wellbeing, with a hope of returning to the AFL in 2021.
The AFL will investigate comments from Paddy McCartin. https://t.co/wNoTQDYmnC
— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) October 29, 2019
The Saints have left the door ajar for the talented 24-year-old returning, however he is also open to signing with another club as a free agent.
“I’d have missed two years of footy, which is a lot, but I might be able to get a couple of extra years at the end. I’m just trying to look at it positively,” he said.
“I’ll work out what this rehabilitation at the Epworth looks like and then hopefully I can tie some of that stuff into being at the club.
“All going to plan, I can get myself right and can potentially get back on a list next year.”
