By Anna Harrington
Paddy McCartin’s symptoms from his 10th concussion are starting to pass but coach John Longmire insists Sydney won’t put any timeline on the luckless defender’s recovery.
McCartin is sidelined indefinitely after he was concussed against Port Adelaide on April 8, when he required assistance walking from the field after his head made contact with the SCG turf.
The Swans are not putting a timeline on Paddy McCartin’s return.Credit: AFL Photos
Younger brother Tom was also concussed during that game and will miss a second consecutive match, Saturday’s grand final rematch with Geelong, while Lance Franklin (knee) and Dane Rampe (neck) are unlikely to return.
Paddy McCartin, 26, suffered nine previous concussions, including eight at St Kilda that put his career on hiatus in 2019, before making a brilliant return at Sydney last season.
When asked how Sydney would put a timeline on McCartin’s recovery process, Longmire said: “It’s very simple – you don’t”.
“It’s got nothing to do with the timeline, it’s got everything to do [with] his health and returning to making sure that he’s feeling really good,” Longmire told Fox Footy.
“Football’s very much not discussed in what we’re talking about with Paddy at the moment, it’s just making sure that he gets back to full health as soon as he can
“While some people outside might want to know timelines, it’s best not to talk about that.
“We’ve had some advice that you need to just focus on getting Paddy back and feeling good and that’s the only thing that we’ll discuss and keep focusing on.”
McCartin’s symptoms are easing and he has been at Sydney’s headquarters.
“Paddy’s in at training every day. He’s not doing any training as such, but he’s been in here every day,” Longmire said.
“We’ve been catching up and chatting and just a matter of making sure that he’s OK, sitting down with him and hopefully starting to feel better day by day, which he is, and that’s the main part that we’re mindful of.
“They’re [the symptoms are] starting to [pass], certainly improving all the time. He was certainly a lot better today than what he was four or five days ago
“He’s starting to feel better about himself, he was in the meetings today and getting around the place and had a smile on his face and really looking forward to being a part of the boys and enjoying being around the club, which is terrific.”
Longmire insisted Paddy’s history didn’t affect how Sydney managed Tom.
“They’ll be treated differently. They’re different people, clearly, so they’ll be treated as per their symptoms accordingly,” he said.
“Unfortunately Tom wasn’t able to be feeling good enough to be able to get through the protocols, so he’ll miss another week.”
