Sydney Swans forward Tom Papley has asked the media to back off Paddy McCartin and let the tall defender recover from his latest concussion without speculating over his future.
McCartin was helped from the field in the first quarter of last week's two-point defeat against Port Adelaide after another sickening head knock.
The 26-year-old has a long history of concussions dating back to his five years at St Kilda, where he suffered eight concussions.
He has since suffered two in two years with the Swans, including his latest setback against the Power at the SCG.
That has led to some questioning whether McCartin should continue his 63-game AFL career at the risk of his long-term health.
Papley, fresh from kicking a career-high six goals in the Swans 44-point victory over Richmond at Adelaide Oval on Friday, said the speculation was not helping anyone.
"To be honest, I don't really listen to [the speculation]," Papley told ABC Sport.
"We're in Sydney, we don't get much of it. We just care for him. That's what the club's about: we care about the person.
"The media says all this stuff but, how about we take care of him?
"Like, don't write him off and all this stuff, let's just take care of the person and how he's actually going."
Earlier in the week, Swans coach John Longmire told media that McCartin was "generally OK" but still had concussion symptoms.
He gave no time frame for McCartin's return to the side, but added that speculation over his future was "not healthy".
"The advice that we've had is to focus on his recovery, that's the most important thing for him to be putting his energy into," Longmire told reporters.
"Hopefully there's not too much speculation about the 'what ifs', because that's not healthy for him."
Those thoughts were echoed by Papley.
"He's had three years of the best people in Australia looking after him and that's what he's going to listen to," Papley said.
Papley said McCartin had been around the club this week and was in "good spirits".
"We don't look too far ahead, we care about the player, how he is each day," Papley said.
"Obviously [I] don't want to ask him [how he is] all the time because it's just a repeated question and he gets sick of it.
"He'll be right, he's one of the best blokes at the club, he's so caring, but let's just let him be and let's not write him off and all this stuff because who's that helping?
"[It's] Just opinions and all this stuff, let's just take care of Paddy McCartin and get him right."
'Everyone was shaken by it': Malthouse
After speaking to Papley, ABC Sport commentator and three-time premiership coach Mick Malthouse said the concern for McCartin was shared by the AFL community.
"People are saying that [McCartin should retire], and … I think they are saying that because they genuinely feel that they don't want to see a player be wheeled around," Malthouse said.
"The Paddy McCartin thing that happened is not a good look. Everyone was shaken by it.
"There has to be a consensus that every concussion is different and you can't ignore every one that's happened previous.
"I reckon that 11 or 12 days [mandatory stand down] should be a guide only.
"I know the club doctors are fantastic, but if you start to add on a layer from the league, it may well be 30 days.
"[McCartin] could technically play, as long as he remains symptom free, in two weeks [and] I don't want to be at that game."
Malthouse likened seeing a player with known concussion issues to watching the latter years of Muhammed Ali's boxing career, when the great heavyweight was suffering from the early signs of a degenerative brain disorder.
ABC Sport commentator and Essendon premiership player Adam Ramanauskas said there was no easy way for players to avoid contact.
"In a contact sport, what's the answer?" he said.
"Accidents are going to happen. If a guy goes up for a specky and hits his head hard on the ground, we can't help that.
"That's the unfortunate part of our game."
Ramanauskas said one answer at the elite level was to have each player's brain scanned prior to starting out their careers to create a baseline.
But Malthouse though said it was not as simple as that.
"We're talking at the elite level, so many kids end up in hospital with concussions in the junior levels, so does that mean on your registration you have to be tested?" he said.
"I think we've gotta go a long way for this."
