Joe Bloggs wrote:Can someone post the Paddy article by Mark Robinson. Please. tonight's Herald sun .
Paddy McCartin is yet to deliver at AFL level but did the Saints err in picking him No.1
MARK ROBINSON, Herald Sun
April 15, 2017 6:00pm
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PADDY McCartin and St Kilda would be thinking that maybe this is not turning out as it should.
Two years and four games into his career, the No.1 draft pick was axed for Sunday’s clash against Collingwood.
When they drafted McCartin, the forward, ahead of Christian Petracca, the midfielder, the hope was he would be a weapon for the Saints in games like this, not a player huddled in the grandstand looking on. Not two years on.
Saints coach Alan Richardson didn’t have choice other than to boot McCartin from this week’s team after a lacklustre performance in a winning team the week before.
In fact, Richardson clearly was disappointed in McCartin’s output against the Lions.
McCartin spent 26 minutes on the ground in the second half last week, the fewest by any non-injured player in a half this year.
Paddy McCartin in action for Sandringham. Picture: Mark Dadswell
As a result, the biggest positional change was Nick Riewoldt. Riewoldt spent 64 per cent of game-time on the wing in the first half and 79 per cent of game-time forward in the second half.
Not for the first time, Richardson went for St Nick ahead of St Pat in the forward line.
It’s not an emergency situation with McCartin, for he is 21 in a week and played just 19 games.
But there is a sense of impatience despite the awareness of McCartin’s concussion history.
That comes with expectation as the No.1 draft pick. Because if McCartin was taken at pick No.46, this column would not be written.
But he is No.1. And the Saints took him ahead of Petracca.
And the Saints took Jack Billings (No.3) ahead of Marcus Bontempelli (No.4) in the 2013 national draft.
And if we wanted to be blunt, the Saints have McCartin and Billings when they could’ve had Bontempelli and Petracca.
Paddy McCartin has had his issues with concussion.
That argument, while thought-provoking for Saints fans, is a little premature in regards to McCartin.
In many aspects, he is a carbon copy of Geelong’s Tom Hawkins at the same time. Big bodied. Good hands. Average tank. Struggled early.
At the same time of their careers, McCartin’s numbers are not as strong as Hawkins’ numbers, but as the Cats did with Tommy, the Saints will do with Patty.
That’s be patient.
Not everyone is. Danny Frawley, who also happens to work at St Kilda, says McCartin doesn’t compete hard enough. “He’s got to get more competitive, it’s as simple as that,” Frawley said. “That’s his DNA - compete.”
Former Saints midfielder Nick Dal Santo said: “He hasn’t shown enough for me. I’d like to see more progress in his game.”
The move from unders to senior football is akin to walking normally through airports and walking on moving walkways at airports.
Everything is the same, but it’s a step too quick and it’s one of the reasons why less-athletic key forwards struggle for possessions early in their careers. That an inexperience.
The point is rookie mids can latch on to some easy ball. Rookie key forwards rely on their hands.
It just doesn’t come easy.
At Geelong, when the coaches were wanting more young a young Hawkins, Cameron Mooney would urge patience. He could see the talent. It eventually worked out as Hawkins was able to grow and develop into a largely stay-at-home forward who marked the ball.
Former coach Terry Wallace likes the comparison.
“For every knock on where he is at the moment, you can sit there and ask: ‘Was Tom Hawkins that far ahead of him at the same time’? Was Jack Watts that far ahead of him at the same time?
“But that doesn’t come with a money-back guarantee that he becomes Tom Hawkins.’’
Back to the draft, and this is not helpful for the Saints or McCartin, but already questions are being asked about McCartin ahead of Petracca.
One argument is McCartin would be needed to replace Riewoldt and that if they took another midfielder, how in the hell would they get a key forward down the track. The Bulldogs paid $6 million for Tom Boyd. What would the Saints pay if they had to pay for one?
Anyhow, history tells us gun key forwards are secured with early draft picks and that with Billings taken the year before, it was wise to go with McCartin with pick No.1.
The other argument is the Saints got it wrong.
“I always do phantom drafts and that year I could not believe St Kilda picked him ahead of Christian Petracca,’’ Wallace said. “I could not believe with the power Petracca had, where he sat, I thought comfortably Petracca was the No.1 in the national draft.’’
Still, Wallace said the securing of a key position avoided a situation where the Saints would have to ‘’sell the farm’’ to recruit one, ala Boyd.
That McCartin was dropped this weekend adds another layer to the pressure on him - and Richardson.
The Saints want him to get fitter, want him to lose weight, and last week against the Lions, he was ordinary.
Richardson needs to lay down the law and at the same time offer encouragement, and will have to ask question after question over the coming weeks about whether Patty is playing or not.
The pressure grows as does the impatience, and if they continue to grow, so will the argument about McCartin v Petracca.
As always, time will tell who is the winner