John Longmire has no regrets about bringing Paddy McCartin to Sydney regardless of the defender’s intensive concussion historical past forcing him into early AFL retirement this week.
The Swans coach stated McCartin, sidelined since struggling his newest head knock in April, had recognized for a while that his probabilities of returning to the AFL have been low.
St Kilda chosen McCartin with the highest decide of the 2014 draft however his 5 seasons at Moorabbin have been overshadowed by eight concussions that restricted him to solely 35 senior appearances.
The Saints delisted McCartin on the finish of 2019 and, after clearance from concussion specialists, he returned to play alongside his brother Tom on the Swans in 2022.
But the 27-year-old was sidelined along with his tenth concussion, attributable to what appeared an innocuous brush towards the SCG turf, within the round-four conflict with Port Adelaide
Extensive session with concussion consultants led the Swans to rule McCartin out for the yr in May, earlier than the defender introduced on Monday that his solely choice was to retire.
“He’s understood that’s probably been the case for a little bit of time,” Longmire stated.
Longmire stated the Swans had solely ever adopted medical consultants of their administration of the concussion-prone McCartin, so had no regrets concerning the determination to take an opportunity by signing him.
“Absolutely not,” Longmire stated.
“We took the advice at the time, and now, from AFL concussion experts, the best in the field.
“He went via an exhaustive course of again then, obtained the all-clear, and was in a position to contribute and be unbelievable for us.
“He was guided by the experts then, as were we, and we’re guided by the experts now, as he is. That’s all we can go by.”
Initially a key ahead, McCartin turned a defensive rock for the Swans final yr and performed 24 video games, greater than in any earlier season.
He featured in all three of the Swans’ 2022 finals matches, together with the grand closing loss to Geelong.
“It’s disappointing that he’s had to complete his career but he’s also grateful for the experiences that he had,” Longmire stated.
“In particular last year, to come up here and play with Tommy and to play as well as what he did.
“He’d by no means performed again earlier than and we performed him in defence and he took to it so properly.
“Probably at the halfway point (of the 2022 season), he was one of the better defenders going around the competition.”
McCartin signed a brand new contract with the Swans on the finish of final yr that was not because of expire till the top of 2024.
It stays to be seen whether or not he’ll as a substitute transition into an off-field function on the membership.
“We’re not sure yet,” Longmire stated.
“He’s just sort of come to terms with the end of his football career now.
“What occurs sooner or later, he is obtained a number of alternatives and some various things and we’ll see what occurs.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
