THE immediate playing future of Paddy McCartin is in serious doubt, after the St Kilda tall forward suffered another head knock and was helped from the field in the VFL.

The Saints confirmed that McCartin was assessed for concussion as a precaution on Saturday afternoon after he came from the field of play during the early stages of Sandringham’s clash with Coburg at Trevor Barker Beach Oval.

The 21-year-old courageously put his head over the ball before copping a knee to the head from an opponent. Trainers immediately ran out on the ground to attend to McCartin, who was on the ground for up to 15 seconds.

McCartin came to the bench as he recovered from the knock and even managed to start walking around the ground just before quarter time.

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However the Zebras took no risks with McCartin, who didn’t return to the field after the incident.

.@paddymccartin11 received a head knock in VFL today. Precautions were taken.Paddy was back on the bench soon after but didn't resume play. — St Kilda FC (@stkildafc) June 24, 2017

McCartin has a long and unfortunate concussion history, suffering five concussions since 2014 — including three in 2016. Saturday’s knock was his sixth.

The 2014 No. 1 draft pick was playing his first competitive game after he was ruled out of St Kilda’s Round 13 clash against North Melbourne due to a knee injury.

Despite being relatively injury-free this year, McCartin has played just five AFL games due to patchy form and internal competition for spots with Josh Bruce and Tim Membrey.

In better news for the Saints, two young midfielders racked up plenty of the ball during the Zebras’ 25-point loss to Coburg.

Jack Steele, who wasn’t selected in the Saints’ senior team for the second straight week, finished with a team-high 36 disposals.

Luckless on-baller Nathan Freeman finished with 28, but as reported by foxfooty.com.au this week, Freeman is “unlikely” to make his senior debut in 2017, according to coach Alan Richardson.

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