AFL
4 months ago
Why Cornes believes Collingwood “gave up” on Ginnivan
By Andrew Slevison
Did Collingwood give up too easily on Jack Ginnivan?
That’s what Kane Cornes believes in the wake of Ginnivan’s huge performance for Hawthorn against the Magpies on Saturday.
After winning the 2023 premiership with the Magpies, Ginnivan was traded to the Hawks last off-season and has flourished at his second club.
He said on SEN back in late May that he struggled in Collingwood’s system and often he felt like he was “wearing the invisible cloak”.
But he is enjoying life in brown and gold as evidenced by his career-best 31 disposals in the weekend’s 66-point over his old club which prompted Cornes to wonder if the Pies let him go without a fight after some off-field misdemeanours.
“For giving up on a player who in his second year kicked 40 goals,” said Cornes in his criticism of Collingwood on SEN Breakfast.
“Essentially they gave up on him. He’s now 21 years of age and Hawthorn are saying, ‘Ok, this guy has got something’.
“He may not be perfect but Collingwood gave up on essentially a 20-year-old because of a couple of things off the field that many young players go through.
“Now he’s at a team that fully embraces what he’s able to do, the attributes that he has and the way that he plays in and amongst a system that allows the players to play with a bit more freedom.
“He had 30 disposals, which is a career high, and the most he ever had at Collingwood was 20. Clearly they pigeon-holed him into a role that didn’t fully suit the attributes that he’s got.”
Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley intervened: “They won the flag, Kane.”
Cornes continued: “Yeah, of course, but does that mean you just give up on players and kick them out?”
Buckley added: “I don’t think so.
“You think that Jack and the football he is playing now might actually be a product of the lessons that he’s learned over the last 12 months.”
Cornes: “No doubt that would be a factor.”
Buckley: “I think he’s going extremely well, by the way.
“That’s all credit to him and it’s all credit to Hawthorn, but I don’t think there needs to be any denigration around Collingwood or how they brought him up, the opportunities they gave him, the system that he played in.”
Cornes and Buckley went back and forth on the 58-game forward with both pondering if he could eventually end up as a midfielder.
Cornes: “If they had their time again could they have used him and allowed him to play with a bit more freedom than what they allowed him to play with?”
Buckley: “If you’re talking from a pure football sense, there was a game where he actually went into the midfield that year.
“He has midfield traits. His ability to get in and under to get his hands on the ball. But he’s got to build his tank. He’s running pretty well at the moment but he will develop his tank even further.
“I see midfield scope in him eventually.”
Cornes: “How did Collingwood not see that?”
Buckley: “They may well have but it was probably a little bit more behavioural and off-field that they may have had concerns on.
“None of us are privy to that because that would have happened inside the four walls more often than not.”
In 16 games for the Hawks so far in 2024, Ginnivan has kicked 19 goals while averaging 16.9 disposals, dwarfing his average of nine while in black and white.
