Possible No.1 draft pick Patrick McCartin leaves nothing to chance
HE COULD be St Kilda or Melbourne’s next power forward, but Geelong Falcons star forward Paddy McCartin is leaving nothing to chance.
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WHEN his classmates hit the books during their spares at school, Patrick McCartin slips out and surrenders himself to a solid running session.
If he’s not on the oval, he will be sweating it up inside the gym on the rowing machine, the exercise bike or by the boxing bag.
The Geelong Falcons power forward is leaving nothing to chance.
All season the 18-year-old has balanced his schooling at Geelong Grammar with the inescapable hype of being a potential No.1 draft pick.
The footy season may have ended, but the fitness component and elite professionalism has not.
“I have two spares a day,” he says. “In one of those spares I will do school work, the other I’ll do some running, or go to the gym, some cross-training, jump on the bike or do some boxing.
“I try to squeeze in as much as I can because I don’t want to go into next year — if I’m lucky enough to be drafted — thinking I could have done this, or I could have done that.
“I want to give it a really big crack and I’m trying to find a good balance.”
In many respects, McCartin is a ready-made full-forward and could have been good enough to hold his own at AFL level this season.
“It’s like tenpin bowling when he crashes packs,” AFL talent academies manager Mick Ablett said this year.
McCartin spoke to six clubs at the Draft Combine — St Kilda, Melbourne, Brisbane, Greater Western Sydney, Western Bulldogs and the Gold Coast.
No club is now allowed to contact him until after his last exam, allowing him clear air to focus on his end-of-school studies.
All going to plan, he hopes to emerge with an ATAR score in the 70s.
McCartin is level-headed and modest about where he sits in the pecking order at this year’s draft.
His answers have been well-shaped after years of the same question.
Where will you go? Where do you want to go? Which club has shown the most interest? What’s it like being a possible No.1 draft pick? How do you handle the hype? Do you read the newspapers?
It’s what everyone asks him.
“At the start of the year I was taken a bit back by it — I didn’t quite know how to respond,” he says.
“I think, though, one thing you learn as the year goes on is that there’s a really fine line between coming across as arrogant and answering the question.
“But as the year goes on, you realise people are just interested in it — it’s one of those things you can’t hide from.”
Falcons regional manager Mick Turner doesn’t mess around in assessing McCartin’s credentials.
“He is an absolute chance to go number one to St Kilda,” Turner said.
“After trading Rhys Stanley, which was a little surprising, the Saints need a key forward because Nick Riewoldt can’t run around forever and probably has one or two years left.
“He could definitely be the top pick.”
Despite McCartin looming as a perfect candidate for the Saints, midfielder Christian Petracca seems to be the frontrunner to land at St Kilda.
But the draft pool is so even that, unlike previous years, even the most astute judges cannot lock down confidently on a top-10 phantom draft.
“When people come up and say, ‘where are you going to be next year’, I honestly don’t have a clue because the clubs don’t give much away,” McCartin said.
“It’s such an open draft this year, it makes it hard to know what’s going to happen.
“That’s what makes it so interesting. In the past couple of years it’s been a bit more predictable, but I think it’s a bit harder this year.”
WITH LIAM QUINN
WHERE COULD PAT GO?
Pick 1 — St Kilda
Mick Turner says McCartin is a massive chance to go number one. The Saints need a key forward with Nick Riewoldt in the twilight and Rhys Stanley gone. But they seem set on Christian Petracca.
Picks 2, 3 — Melbourne
Probably his most likely home. The Demons have lost Mitch Clark so could view McCartin as a handy replacement, given he is big, physical and has speed on the lead.
Pick 4 — GWS
Would be in contention if he slips this far after the Giants lost Tom Boyd to the Bulldogs. Peter Wright, of the Calder Cannons, is the other key forward billed as a top draft chance. Wright is big enough to play in the ruck and a solid kick of the footy over distance.
Originally published as Possible No.1 draft pick Patrick McCartin leaves nothing to chance
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