McCartin trained three times a week after his TAC Cup season finished with the Geelong Falcons, working out with the club's strength and conditioning coach Matt Critchley.
The 194cm key forward sought out Critchley knowing he needed to boost his fitness to another level and pushed himself to near exhaustion during the high-intensity workouts.
Saints thrilled with draft haul
“You could sell tickets to the workouts, they were that intense,” Critchley told the Herald Sun.
“We would box for 90 minutes-plus and in that time he might only be resting for four or five minutes, for the whole session.
“It sends shivers up my spine thinking about how hard he worked. And I didn’t have to go to him and talk about doing some extra work.
“He sought my expertise out about being pushed to the next level because that’s where his mindset was at.
“In his mind, he wanted to be — as he calls it — ready to go.”
McCartin, who has type one diabetes, pushed himself to the brink during boxing, circuit, rope, sledgehammer and barbell exercises.
The 18-year-old reaped the benefits and significantly dropped his skinfolds.
“So that was one of his goals and the AFL recruiters do look at that," Critchley said.
“But we were looking to improve his power, his speed, his aerobic and anaerobic ability just as much.”
McCartin and Falcons teammate Hugh Goddard (pick 21), a versatile 195cm defender, were the Saints' first two picks at the draft.
Last season's wooden-spooners also recruited athletic midfielder Daniel McKenzie from the Oakleigh Chargers with pick 22 and Dandenong Stingrays small forward Jack Lonie at 41.
“You could sell tickets to the workouts, they were that intense,” Critchley told the Herald Sun.
“We would box for 90 minutes-plus and in that time he might only be resting for four or five minutes, for the whole session.
“It sends shivers up my spine thinking about how hard he worked. And I didn’t have to go to him and talk about doing some extra work.
“He sought my expertise out about being pushed to the next level because that’s where his mindset was at.
“In his mind, he wanted to be — as he calls it — ready to go.”
McCartin, who has type one diabetes, pushed himself to the brink during boxing, circuit, rope, sledgehammer and barbell exercises.
The 18-year-old reaped the benefits and significantly dropped his skinfolds.
“So that was one of his goals and the AFL recruiters do look at that," Critchley said.
“But we were looking to improve his power, his speed, his aerobic and anaerobic ability just as much.”
McCartin and Falcons teammate Hugh Goddard (pick 21), a versatile 195cm defender, were the Saints' first two picks at the draft.
Last season's wooden-spooners also recruited athletic midfielder Daniel McKenzie from the Oakleigh Chargers with pick 22 and Dandenong Stingrays small forward Jack Lonie at 41.
