Paddy McCartin breaks collarbone but receives praise from coach Alan Richardson

ST KILDA won’t ask luckless forward Paddy McCartin to change his aggressive attack on the ball following yet another courageous lunge that saw break his collarbone at the MCG.

McCartin after the game. Picture: Colleen Petch

ST KILDA won’t ask luckless forward Paddy McCartin to change his aggressive attack on the ball following yet another courageous lunge that saw break his collarbone at the MCG.

McCartin kicked his team’s opening two goals, but his day ended after only 14 minutes when Richmond’s Nick Vlaustin crashed into him deep into attack.

Speaking after the Saints’ nine-point win over Richmond, coach Alan Richardson said McCartin’s action earned him great respect from teammates.

But he said that while the 20-year-old will put on more strength and slightly alter his technique over the summer months, he won’t need to temper his instinctive appetite for the ball.

“Paddy is a big bloke, he will work on his technique, but we want him to be strong and physical,” Richardson said.

“We certainly recruited that player, and he will get better technically, and he will certainly get better physically, but he will keep playing that way.”

“It is frustrating for him, but each of the games he has gone off — and they have all been early in the game — he has had a really positive performance.

“He has played some pretty strong footy, but not for long enough because of injury. He is going to be a beauty, we are really excited about Paddy, and (Tim) Membrey and ‘Brucey’ (Josh Bruce).

“They are going to play a lot of footy for a long time, and every now and then we will let the skipper (Nick Riewoldt) get forward of the ball and he can chip in too.”

McCartin has played 17 of the 43 games the Saints have contested since he was taken as the No. 1 draft pick in 2014, but Richardson is certain he has already shown enough to suggest he has a big future.

Paddy McCartin leaves the field after breaking his collarbone. Picture: Getty Images

He has been concussed three times this year, in part due to his attack on the ball, and Richardson was relieved that he did not cop another head knock.

“He has had a luckless run on the back of putting his head in the hole for his team and his teammates,” he said. “He is a courageous kid, he is a tough kid, so that earns respect.”

Richardson said he felt the game appeared closer on the scoreboard than in general play, and he was also pleased from a long-term point of view that his team had won all three of its MCG games in 2016.

“We spoke about that after the game,” he said.

“It is good to win on this deck. It is good for the players to believe that their style and their method stacks up (at the MCG), even if we didn’t get everything right.”

“I think our best footy is much better, there has still been a bit of a gap between our best and our worst. We know we still have got a fair amount of work to do, (but) it has been a positive year.”

If the Saints can defeat Brisbane at Etihad Stadium next Sunday, it will have doubled the number of wins from last season — from six in 2015 to 12 this year.

Richardson said the club was looking forward to getting access to banned former Bomber Jake Carlisle, and said his club would be “aggressive” at the trade and free agency table for the right player.