Veteran AFL journalist Caroline Wilson has challenged Swans coach John Longmire‘s criticism of vision that was broadcast of concussion-plagued star Paddy McCartin after he was subbed out of Monday’s game following a concerning head knock.
Longmire felt uncomfortable with what he called the “invasive” nature of the live footage shown during Fox Footy’s coverage of the match, which aired a visibly distraught McCartin in the Swans’ locker room.
McCartin copped an accidental knee to the head from Chad Wingard in Sydney’s 41-point loss to the Hawks on Anzac Day.
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The 26-year-old’s career has been ravaged by concussions since being picked at No.1 in the 2014 draft, with the latest incident causing the recruit’s ninth career concussion.
However, speaking on Nine’s Footy Classified, Wilson disagreed with Longmire’s comments that vision should not be shown on TV in delicate situations.
“I’ve got enormous respect for John Longmire, but that is just wrong,” she said.
“It’s not fair what he said.
“If the Swans cared so much about the vision then they needed to send him straight into a separate room – into a doctors’ room or a trainers’ room – they didn’t have to put him where the cameras could see him.
“It was the Swans’ mistake.”
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Wilson said it was understandable Sydney could have forgotten to move McCartin to somewhere more private in the middle of a match, but then couldn’t blame the media for drawing conclusions knowing McCartin’s past struggles with concussion.
“If it was that bad, then maybe Sydney should have communicated more with the media who wanted to know what was going on,” she said.
Fellow panellist and former AFL coach Ross Lyon concurred.
“We know the environment – it’s live theatre and I was watching it and I was fascinated by it,” he said.
“I understand the sensitivities and where John’s coming from, but we know the environment we operate in, we know the interest and every coach in the AFL says, ‘control the controllable’ – well that applies to support staff as well as medical – control the controllable.
“I know there’s a room there, you just go to the left and you’re in private.”
Both McCartin and teammate Logan McDonald, who also suffered a concussion, have recovered well, but will miss Sydney’s round seven clash with the Brisbane Lions because of the AFL’s mandatory 12-day concussion protocol.