Delisted Saint Paddy McCartin has revealed he cheated on pre-season concussion tests to boost his chances of returning to the field later in the year.
The former No. 1 pick mutually agreed to depart St Kilda on Monday to focus on his health after a suffering series of concussions throughout his 35-game career.
He has not played since the 2019 pre-season when he copped his most recent head knock and eighth overall.
McCartin said he deliberately underperformed when undergoing baseline tests carried out at every club before the season.
โI think some of the stuff that we do earlier in the season, baseline testing and these computer things, you can bludge your way through it if you want to,โ he told SEN.
โItโs your baseline, so itโs what you are at the start of the season when youโre fine.
โAnd Iโve done this before ... because Iโve had so many concussions, especially early in my career (so) Iโm sort of worried about missing games because I was worried about what people think about me and all that kind of crap.
โIโve done the testing worse on purpose, so that if I do my baseline (testing) again Iโm starting from a worse spot than I would before.โ
Asked if he thinks other players would deliberately underperform, McCartin declared: โI would say so.
โIf I was doing it, then probably other people would too. Maybe I was the only one, but probably not.โ
He added that players are better educated of how to deal with concussion nowadays.
โItโs just this weird concept that people want to push themselves past concussion,โ he said.
โItโs not a stigma but itโs something thatโs been around forever ... itโs just this reputation that it has around it that โoh well, if you get hit in the head just get up and keep goingโ.
โI think a lot of that is changing but thereโs still some of it around.
โThe AFL has done a good job but I think but I think definitely thereโs guys that have probably played when theyโre still struggling a bit.โ
