St Kilda key forward Paddy McCartin has put his best foot forward after being among the best players at in Sandringham’s 25-point loss to Richmond at Trevor Barker Beach Oval on Saturday.
After finishing with nine marks and two goals last week, McCartin had four shots on goal for three majors and pulled in seven marks, working well with fellow tall Rowan Marshall.
The 21-year-old drew praise from VFL coach Lindsay Gilbee, who was impressed with his work rate and ability to get to contests across the four quarters.
“Paddy McCartin’s efforts today was really impressive. He got to a lot more contests and had to deal with a fair bit of opposition attention, but he still had an impact on the game for us,” Sandringham coach Lindsay Gilbee told saints.com.au.
“One of the great things about Paddy is that he always gives us a contest and it gives our midfielders confidence when they look inside 50 and see him there. He’s a key target who we rate very highly.
“We really liked the way Paddy and Marshall played together. Rowan kicked a couple of goals and worked hard for his eight marks, and we may be getting a glimpse of our future in attack there from a St Kilda point of view.”
In more exciting news for St Kilda, key defender Hugh Goddard made his long awaited return from a ruptured Achilles tendon injury, playing three quarters in the Development League.
“Hugh pulled up well after playing a half last week, three quarters this week and we’ll look to give him another run for a full Development League game next week," Gilbee said.
“Its not about how much of the ball Hugh gets, its more getting game time into his body after missing the past 12 months with a serious achilles injury.
“We see his recovery progressing well but we’re cautious with him playing VFL seniors too quickly because the jump from Development League to seniors is quite large.”
St Kilda pair Brandon White and Daniel McKenzie also impressed for the Zebras across half-back, both gathering 26 disposals with efficiency out of the back half.
