Its a gamble if our due diligance wasn't up to snuff. It may or may not have been, we don't know.White Winmar wrote:No champions in that lot. Weightman the exception. Played 30 years ago. Unknown how severe his diabetes was. Ridiculous gamble given it was pick one.Linton Lodger wrote:Are we ignoring the fact that Petracca could very well not turn out to be as good as Billings (Pick 3), Gresham (Pick 17) and Acres (Pick 18)? I'm betting at least 2 of them will be better than Petracca, probably all 3.
This thread has gone on, yet no one has articulated where we'd now find a key forward if we had taken Petracca instead of Paddy.
By the way here's a list of AFL players with Type 1 Diabetes:
Australian rules football
Nathan Bassett, Adelaide, type 1.
Jamie Cripps, St Kilda and West Coast, type 1.
Jack Fitzpatrick, Melbourne, Hawthorn type 1.
Brandon Jack, Sydney, type 1.
Paddy McCartin, St Kilda, type 1.
Sam Reid, Western Bulldogs and Greater Western Sydney, type 1.
Dale Weightman, Richmond, type 1.
Sam Reid has been in good form for GWS displacing many high draft picks, Brandon Jack is a handy player and Dale Weightman didn't go too badly.
I see a kid that can play and has some freakish abilities. Don't pay attention to a few dropped marks, he has beautiful soft hands. His reading of the ball in flight is uncanny and he has a really quick & smart footy brain.
He has challenges but I don't see them necessarily being related to his diabetes, altough I must concede I'm no expert.
His apparent fitness issues could be diabetes or could be a young player taking longer to build a tank. The big fellas generally take longer anyway, some players take 3 years some take 5.
His concussions, I accept that diabetes may make him more susceptible however, Angus Brayshaw (Melbs No.3 pick same draft) has had more issues with concussion than Paddy. Having seen most of the incidents Paddy was concussed in, in a number of them it really was a case of Paddy being too brave and hitting contests too hard for his own good. Perhaps the diabetes delays recovery from concussions? Is that such a disaster? Imagine Riewoldt in his earlier years if we had the stringent concussion protocols we have now.
I know that the diabetes cannot be just dismissed and I would expect that the Club did extensive due diligance and then again for good measure, in regard to Paddy's medical issues. I would expect that the outcome of such due diligance indicated that there was no reasonable risk of the diabetes impacting on his performance. If that has not occurred, then we should be worried. I do not accept that the decision was one person's and am confident we are not been run by d*ckheads as we have been in the past.
No doubt that people with Diabetes face huge hurdles and even limitations. No doubt that most of them could never be elite athletes. However, some people are just plain extraordinary. I don't think anyone can dispute that Paddy was in the least, one of the best 10 players in the most elite Under 18 competition. That in itself is extraordinary. Sure the bar is higher in the AFL, but generally he has demonstrated that he's too good for the VFL and he far from just scrapped in at elite junior level.
I backed Billings and I'm backing this kid. Give him another 20 games and watch him go.
Though he wasn't too embarrassed to take (gouge?) the cash from those who could least afford it. 
