Mobile key forward Tim Membrey is confident fellow spearhead Paddy McCartin has given himself the best chance to make an impact this season by compiling a strong pre-season on the track.
McCartin, 20, played 11 games in his second season in 2016, although despite showing glimpses of brilliance, the 2014 No. 1 pick endured an injury-riddled year with concussion issues and a broken collarbone holding him back.
But after weaving session after session together this summer, Membrey believes the Geelong Falcons product is ready to roam further up the ground in 2017 and provide a strong leading target to hit.
“He’s had a really good pre-season, so look to see him get busy up the ground, take some big grabs up on the wing and then hopefully be a dangerous target for us up forward,” Membrey said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“He’s in super nick, it’s certainly good for the midfielders, he gives us a lot of confidence that he’s going to provide a big contest and hopefully take more marks.
“What he shows at training and what he shows in games is he’s a big, strong target and he takes a great mark.”
After undergoing a shoulder reconstruction at the end of 2015, Membrey followed a modified training pre-season program that focused heavily on running while he was away from the main group.
The results that followed have been widely documented. Membrey produced a breakout 2016, kicking the most goals at the Saints to go with a top-ten finish in the Trevor Barker Award.
South Australian inside midfielder, Luke Dunstan, has followed the template left by Membrey this summer and on the back of a small sample size, the results are already encouraging.
“I had a little bit to do with ‘Lukey’. (He had a) similar injury to what I did two pre-season’s ago,” Membrey said.
“I think it’s just a good program that the conditioning guys have setup, you get a bit of running in – a lot more than you would like at times – but it’s obviously going to hold him in good stead for the season going forward.”
With almost a clean bill of a health at Linen House Centre, dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna is one of the few injury concerns at the minute.
The 33-year-old strained his calf in the days before the intra-club but is expected to be fit for Round 1.
“He looks really good, he managed to get out there at the back of our session today and like always he was vocal and getting around all the boys,” Membrey said.
“He’s in good spirits and hopefully he’s ready to go for Round 1.”
