Its the way he plays, he says he is not going to change it. Riewoldt was criticising his playing technique on the radio this morning he says McCartin flies for everything and does not use his body to protect himself and use his arms in a way that shields his head… Ever wondered why even the bravest players stay down every so often? Riewoldt reckons that McCartin is still trying to play like a huge schoolboy where he could bump all the little defenders away. AFL is not like that.
That’s a lot easier to say in hindsight though, isn’t it? I mean - the likelihood that it’s ‘playing technique’ over medical reasons are, I would have thought, pretty slim. Also - the past affects the future with these things. And also also - there is some evidence to suggest that helmets amplify light concussion.
It’s like a boxer who gets knocked out. The first one you’re fine, but every subsequent concussion does more damage and takes longer to recover. His 8th concussion since 2014, that’s a worrying sign. Maybe he doesn’t protect himself enough, but there also has to be something about his genetic makeup that means he is susceptible to head knocks amounting to concussions. Wearing head protection doesn’t do much. It will prevent a skull fracture, but concussion is caused by the brain being disturbed, most of the time the brain hitting the inside wall of the skull. I agree with the suggestion that club doctors should not be diagnosing these injuries other than on game day. Past that point, he should be referred to independent doctors that have nothing to do with the player’s club or the AFL so a completely unbiased assessment can be made. I really hope the kid gives it away, it’s not worth it mate. You can still live a happy healthy life, but if you continue to play footy the next hit could potentially lead to permanent damage.
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I was talking to my boss today who plays rugby. He’s only 42 and is suffering more and more frequent bouts of “forgetfulness” ranging from forgetting colleague and client names to forgetting to pick his kids up from school and sport. He is terrified that his regular head knocks have caused permanent damage - and that is just at suburban level. Professional rugby and AFL players are walking timebombs.
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McCartin 35 games concussions 8 at this rate about 24 per 100 games. ( extrapolating may not be valid)
Joe Daniher 100 games concussions 0 at this rate about 0 per 100 games.
I believe there might be a "technique " component to it. The coaches have apparently been trying to change the way he plays, with little success it would seem. He himself does not want to change the way he plays.
Yes he may be more susceptible and yes that may be due to his concussion history.
The other elephant in the room is Liam Picken.
Feb 5, 2019 - The future of Western Bulldogs forward Liam Picken remains unclear, with the premiership player revealing he is still experiencing headaches more than 11 months on from his most recent concussion. Picken has not played since being knocked out in a marking contest
There was talk on the radio this morning suggesting that he doesn’t protect himself with solid technique (McCartin that is). That he plays like an under 18 that is bigger and stronger than everyone else … it’s just that he’s not an under 18 anymore and therefore not the biggest and strongest fish in the pond.
Wow.
That doesn’t even make sense.
What genius came up with this?
Just looking at the footage of the incident, he’s backing into a pack and cops some friendly fire from Ben Long. There is contact to the head from the side, it might’ve got him in the wrong spot but to me it’s not the sort of contact you’d expect to receive concussion from. It wasn’t a super high speed contest, but his awareness for his own safety was minimal at best. He might have a touch of the Mark Harveys about him, who was too brave for his own good and displayed a lot of “dumb courage” during his career, running back with the flight either not knowing what’s coming or not worrying about his own safety.
I think it was Riewoldt and Lyon - they were suggesting that he’s so conditioned to being bigger and unlikely to get hurt that he plays the same way against much more robust opponents in the AFL
No matter how comparatively ‘bigger’ you are - how much impact pressure do you think it takes to concuss someone? I assume by the way the comment is made, that they were only talking about impact with other players - not the ground. Which tends to be much bigger than the person, regardless. It’s a rubbish gimmicky media spouting.
In my opinion.
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The gist of what they were saying was that he doesn’t have a technique that shields his head. He’s just goes for the footy and as a junior he got away with it because other kids couldn’t get around his mass to contact his head or knock him to the floor.
In relation to the force required to concuss - different for every person in every situation.
How many former players have come out and blamed him for it all?
They know who pays the bills
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That’s moronic.
The only head contact was when he hit the turf.
Unless he - literally - steers clear of every player and every contest on the field, there’s no way of avoiding the possibility of hitting the turf.
Poor bloke is cooked IMO.
The guy has had 8 concussions in AFL footy. How many of those were due to his head hitting the turf?
They chose the wrong McCartin.
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how do you figure that? They both have the same issue don’t they?
Cos he’s a Sydney troll
Diggers reminds me of Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs
No. T McCartin doesn’t (at this stage at least) appear to be concussion prone.