LUCKLESS St Kilda forward Paddy McCartin will be out indefinitely as he takes time to completely recover from his sixth concussion since 2014.
The Saint isn't experiencing any concussion symptoms and will continue to train, but will be reassessed in a few weeks.
McCartin, 21, suffered the latest injury in a VFL game against Coburg late last month.
"I'm going to have a couple more weeks off," McCartin said at Seaford on Wednesday.
"There's a few things, just baseline testing and things like that, where I'm not quite 100 per cent.
"With the head stuff, it's pretty important that that's all 100 per cent spot on.
"I'm just going to have a few more weeks off and reassess then.
"Feeling really good, feel fine. I'm doing all the training. Probably more of a training load than what I would in-season normally, when I'm playing.
"That's really positive and I'm feeling good."
St Kilda football manager Jamie Cox told saints.com.au McCartin was avoiding contact at training.
"Paddy remains symptomatically well and has recently stepped up to non-contact training drills," Cox said.
"However, recent comprehensive testing has revealed he is not quite back to baseline levels, so he will be held back from returning to play in the short term and assessed further in the coming two-to-three weeks.
"He will continue to complete non-contact drills with a view of stepping up to full training once cleared medically to resume."
It's been a tough year for the No. 1 selection from the 2014 NAB AFL Draft. He has also dealt with hamstring and knee concerns, limiting him to five matches for the season.
"I haven't got any symptoms. In terms of showing physical symptoms or feeling sick or having headaches or anything like that, I'm fine," McCartin said.
"There's a lot of testing for this stuff, as there should be, it's very important. There's a few of those things I haven't 100 per cent ticked off yesterday.
"I was told yesterday by a specialist I'm about 95 per cent. That's the difference between playing and a couple more weeks."
While frustrated, McCartin has been told he was not especially susceptible to being concussed.
"This is my third year now and it's a lot of footy I've missed through these things. Initially, the same with any injury I think, it's frustration, but you just take time to process things and deal with it," McCartin said.
"Everyone goes through little hurdles and stuff in their careers. You look at pretty much every player on the list, so I'm no different to them. When something happens a few times, sometimes it can get frustrating.
"The important thing is, they've sort of been separate incidents each time. I don't feel like I'm more prone to them or anything like that and I've been reassured that's the case. I think I've just put my head in the wrong spot a couple of times and that's been the price I've paid."
McCartin also suffered a broken collarbone against Richmond late last season. However, he said he would keep attacking the footy the same way.
"I won't change that. It's something I've been doing for 15 years so it will be hard to change," McCartin said.
Watching from the sidelines as the Saints have strung four consecutive wins together has been difficult.
"That's been probably the toughest thing. When I sat down with (coach Alan Richardson) a couple of weeks ago after (being concussed), I said to him I felt like we were going to get on a roll. I could feel it coming and I think everyone here felt like that," McCartin said.
But the key forward is wary of the problems with coming back too quickly.
"It's not like a knee or an ankle where you can sort of see it, or if you feel like you're right, you can push through it. It's something that's left to specialists and that's 100 per cent right with me because 10, 20 years down the track, I'll need my brain," he said.
