PADDY McCartin's immediate playing future is again in doubt after the big St Kilda forward suffered another concussion in the VFL.
McCartin had his head over the footy in a contest during the first quarter of Sandringham's clash with Coburg when he was collected by an opponent.
He lay on the ground for 10-15 seconds and was attended by trainers before walking off. He failed to appear again in the second half.
"He was ruled out with concussion, which isn't good with his history. He'll obviously get assessed during the week but hopefully for Paddy it's nothing, because he was playing very good AFL footy a couple of weeks ago," Sandringham assistant coach Brendan Allen said after the game.
McCartin's 2016 season was blighted by three separate concussion incidents, but he had avoided any problems to date in 2017.
Dropped midfielder Jack Steele collected 36 disposals and kicked a goal while Nathan Freeman had 28, but both lacked impact.
"(Steele) got a lot of it. He's a quality player. He can come back to this level and get those possessions. We need all of our midfielders to be really setting us up and I don't think we got that today," Allen said.
Tough backman Daniel McKenzie copped a knock early in the game and played on before sitting out much of the final term.
"McKenzie got a really bad knock between his hip and his coccyx. He got a bit of nerve damage there so found it hard to run," Allen said.
Defender Nick Coughlan also spent the fourth quarter on the bench, with a hamstring injury ending his day.
Sandringham went on to lose the game to Coburg by 25 points, Coburg's first win of the VFL season.
@7VFL Paddy McCartin off the ground with late in the first Qtr for @sandyzebs vs @CoburgFC #PJVFL pic.twitter.com/MaNjlpv4tx
— Michael Robinson (@ozrobbo) June 24, 2017