FORMER No.1 draft pick Paddy McCartin has been a day one standout at St Kilda training, smashing his personal best in the club's 3km time trial. 

McCartin, Jack Billings and time trial winner Ed Phillips were all particularly impressive as the Saints' first to fourth year players returned at Seaford. 

McCartin, 21, has had a chequered start to his playing career, with three separate concussions in 2016 and one in the VFL in July stalling his progress. 

He has played just 22 senior games in three seasons, but on Wednesday he made a statement about his readiness for the 2018 season. 

"Some guys went above and beyond those targets like Ed Phillips at the front, as well as Paddy McCartin and Jack Billings," high performance manager Matt Hornsby told the Saints' website. 

"For Paddy to run a fairly significant PB is a really good indication that he continued the work he did at the back end of the season when he wasn’t able to play during the off-season – it has translated into a really strong performance today.” 

Phillips picked up where he left off last summer, setting the pace to beat Dan McKenzie and Jack Sinclair, who fought it out to the finish line with only one second separating the pair.

Fresh from a trip together in the United States, young midfield pair Blake Acres and Jack Steele were further back in fourth and fifth spots.

Phillips impressed Hornsby once again. 

"He’s a very natural endurance runner with a really efficient running technique. I think he’s really just scratching the surface with what he’s capable of achieving," he said.