Former St Kilda midfielder Nick Dal Santo remains confident Paddy McCartin can still become a key player at the Saints.
McCartin has lost a bit of weight over his time off and Dal Santo, who has spent some time at Moorabbin over the pre-season, said he does look in better shape.
“There was reports he’d come back and had lost a fair bit of weight, he just looked leaner,” Dal Santo told SEN Breakfast.
“It’s probably difficult for me to assess Paddy on that one session, but he looks leaner, I’ll give him that much.
“The challenge is being able to do that sort of running when it matters, during games so I’m not quite sure with Paddy McCartin.
“I’m still optimistic on what he can become. A good pre-season will hold him in good stead.”
Dal Santo expects lower expectations for St Kilda in 2019, but they’ll be looking to follow a similar path to teams who rose the ladder quickly in recent years.
“They need to get a wriggle on after the disappointed of last season,” he said.
“The expectations might be a little bit lower, they’ll get a different draw so you never know.
“I think if anything, the Saints, like many teams around that position, they’re probably looking at teams like the Western Bulldogs a couple of years ago and thinking we can turn this around really quickly.
“I was out there (at St Kilda) last week and gee they got flogged in the running.”
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