McCartin!!

[stevoswan]

Spot on barry. No reason not to complete school. Can start a traineeship or apprenticeship as part of his schooling. I rarely have cause to question the club, especially when it comes to player welfare but this is the second youngster in a year to make this call with the Swans? blessing and -without knowing all the details - I?m not convinced it?s the right call in either case.

The decision was made by Tom with his parents.....all the club did was facilitate the discussion which lead to Tom's own decision.

Bad move. Go and do year 12 son. Footy and a career can wait.

That's right Barry, throw the 'negative' view on it. Do you ever just 'go with the flow' or do you always know better?

[Nico]

He is actually getting paid pretty well as an 18 year old AFL player. Maybe he just wants to be a professional footballer. If that's how it is then then we have one dedicated person who wants to succeed. He has plenty of time to think about what he wants to do after footy. How many other players on our list a purely professional footballers.

[Vonsteinman]

A number of sound arguments here.... a few ill-informed and irrelevant also it has to be said.

Here?s hoping he has a 15-year playing career and goes on from there.

As a young bloke with a couple of years of guaranteed income and some time on his hands, I would have advised him to hang in and get his Year 12 certificate, which could have included a start on vocational learning/training in a particular trade. The likelihood of failing with the amount of support available would be low.

The extra skills and education would not have hurt him and - believe it or not - having a Year 12 certificate in your folio is still worth a whole lot should things not work out as planned on the footy field.

[Bloods05]

A number of sound arguments here.... a few ill-informed and irrelevant also it has to be said.

Here?s hoping he has a 15-year playing career and goes on from there.

As a young bloke with a couple of years of guaranteed income and some time on his hands, I would have advised him to hang in and get his Year 12 certificate, which could have included a start on vocational learning/training in a particular trade. The likelihood of failing with the amount of support available would be low.

The extra skills and education would not have hurt him and - believe it or not - having a Year 12 certificate in your folio is still worth a whole lot should things not work out as planned on the footy field.

Please, let's talk about footy. Presuming to know the ins and outs of players' personal lives is tedious. Plenty of that kind of rubbish over at BigFooty.

[AB Swannie]

Please, let's talk about footy. Presuming to know the ins and outs of players' personal lives is tedious. Plenty of that kind of rubbish over at BigFooty.

+1

[707]

Please, let's talk about footy. Presuming to know the ins and outs of players' personal lives is tedious. Plenty of that kind of rubbish over at BigFooty.

On that note, knowing the ins and outs of players' personal lives, just wondering if Tom Lynch has signed with Collingwood yet? Over at BF their fans are certain he'll be in black & white next year - to save Buckley's coaching career!

[dejavoodoo44]

Speaking of the McCartin bandwagon on other threads, I think this is where the bandwagon officially resides.

It will be interesting to see how he develops this year. My personal view is that he should be played largely as a project player in the NEAFL, unless injuries make his promotion necessary. That being said, I also think that he's already shown enough, to suggest that we've picked up an excellent key position prospect, at a bargain basement draft pick.

[Swansongster]

As stated on another thread, imagine if McCartin rapidly develops into a gun (of course, we are getting well and truly ahead of ourselves here) and we pick up Blakey in the next draft who also comes to the fore very quickly.

I suspect Eddie and the rest of his Victorian co-conspirators are twitching already.

[707]

As stated on another thread, imagine if McCartin rapidly develops into a gun (of course, we are getting well and truly ahead of ourselves here) and we pick up Blakey in the next draft who also comes to the fore very quickly.

I suspect Eddie and the rest of his Victorian co-conspirators are twitching already.

If Blakey chooses us then I expect Eddie will come out all red faced blustering about how F/S should over ride academy nominations! Gee I hope that Pies have another poor year and not just because we hold their 2nd rounder.

[Blood Fever]

If Blakey chooses us then I expect Eddie will come out all red faced blustering about how F/S should over ride academy nominations! Gee I hope that Pies have another poor year and not just because we hold their 2nd rounder.

Given everything, I reckon the karma bus still has a lot of work to do to even the score with Eddie.

[liz]

If Blakey chooses us then I expect Eddie will come out all red faced blustering about how F/S should over ride academy nominations! Gee I hope that Pies have another poor year and not just because we hold their 2nd rounder.

Of course he will. David King has been blathering on about this for over a year, and Eddie himself started a few years back when Blakey was still playing U15s.

It's an irrelevant argument because F/S is entirely optional for the player. It's impossible to make it override academy eligibility.

[Ludwig]

Father and son means nothing. What really counts is this:

Mother and son.jpg

Dear Mrs. Blakey,

Your son can stay home where you can keep an eye one him and see him play on the weekends. You can even see him at training and check if his undies are clean,

OR

He could be playing footy for this guy:

Brad Scott.jpg

and get a new slick Melbourne look to fit in with his new Melbourne mates:
Dustin Martin.jpgJake stringer manbun.jpg

It's your choice!

Best Regards,

Ludwig
Swans Chief Strategist and Fashion Manager

[Mountain Man]

Hopefully we have 4+ years from both Franklin and Reid. Sinclair is also still young enough to be the 2nd ruck and further tall around the ground.
I have been impressed by McCartin and Blakey is reportedly very talented (if he chooses us) but neither will get an easy promotion - injuries excepted

[Cosmic Wizard]

Of course he will. David King has been blathering on about this for over a year, and Eddie himself started a few years back when Blakey was still playing U15s.

It's an irrelevant argument because F/S is entirely optional for the player. It's impossible to make it override academy eligibility.

Yes, but Collingwood recruiting Murray and gave us their second round this year, means we have the points for Blakey!

And maybe a few choices to spares.

Basically, we have been given an elite player for the price of a rookie, thanks Eddie!

[bloodspirit]

McCartin has made a great early impression but Horse has been clear that it's still early days. Also, it's interesting that, as noted above, the two main knocks on McCartin have been his goal kicking and his consistency and there was nothing to suggest that he's sorted out his goal kicking issues yet based on his performance in the practice match against the Giants. Still, with a strong focus on this, surely it can be greatly improved. It's looking pretty rosy for McCartin's future.