HAWTHORN 20.13 (133) d COLLINGWOOD 9.13 (67)
Jack Ginnivan of the Hawks kicks a goal.Credit: Getty Images
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Ginnivan Puts Old Club To Sleep
Jack Ginnivan has had his cake and eaten it too. The Hawthorn recruit has every reason to believe his dream of playing a final for the club he supported as a kid can be realised this year. The team he left with a premiership medal around his neck is in disarray, their finals hopes all but shot. The Hawks are tantalisingly close to a spot in the eight after inflicting Collingwood arguably their worst loss in the Craig McRae era.
Thrashed by 66 points under lights in the wet at the MCG, the Pies’ finals hopes are hanging by a thread after a performance so wretched it had to be seen to be believed. Ginnivan was brilliant. His game-high 31 disposals was a comfortable career-best, bettering his previous mark of 23 and giving more credence to his claims the Hawthorn system allows him to express himself more freely than that of the Pies, which admittedly won last year’s flag.
The anticipatory murmurs of “Ginni” preceding every possession was followed by the jeers from his former supporters. But the one-time poster boy of the black and white army did not mind. When he capped off his red-letter game with a goal, he rushed to the Hawthorn faithful to celebrate. At the ensuing centre bounce, he had his arms raised triumphantly at the Punt Road End goal square, revelling in the praise of his new football family. His second goal at the death was gluttony.
He and the young kid they call The Wizard, Nick Watson, who booted three goals, are going to trigger strong reactions from fans over the next decade. Few would have thought last October when Ginnivan and Collingwood split, that come July he would be the party with more realistic ambitions of playing finals.
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Magpies Miles Off The Pace
That the in-form and energised Hawks emerged victorious was not a surprise, but few would have expected such a wide gap between sides that started the round in 12th and 13th positions. In conditions that demanded unwavering commitment of mind and body, the Pies were pathetic, unable and unwilling to go the extra mile. The rain should have suited their pressure game, making it more difficult for Hawthorn to play the keeping off style used with good effect by the Pies’ recent conquerors. Instead, the Hawks went out of their way to seek contact.
When they could not handball their way around trouble, they barged their way through – and the Pies waved them through. Numbers can sometimes distort the picture, but not in this game. The Pies could not get their hands on the ball, as seen by the lopsided possession count, a differential seldom seen at this level. Smacked at the contest, they gave up territory and goals.
Apart from Nick Daicos, there are few, if any, Pies at or near their top. Jordan De Goey is labouring like a man robbed of his explosiveness. Though never quick, the gap between Scott Pendlebury’s speed of thought to execution is widening. Darcy Moore and Isaac Quaynor, both enduring underwhelming campaigns, kept their side in it early but did little thereafter.
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Injury, MRO Worries Add to Woes
The Pies’ dirty day was compounded by a concussion to Nick Kreuger, who was subbed off in the first quarter, and potential match review trouble for Brayden Maynard for a high fend on Ginnivan.
Ginnivan played out the game though came off briefly for treatment which may give weight to a grading of the impact as medium, resulting in a one-game ban.
There was hardly a player in brown and gold who did not complete their job. James Sicily was brave in defence, marking with the confidence of a man who does not have a dislocated shoulder.
Their midfield, with the unlikely Lloyd Meek setting the tone in the ruck, was dominant. Will Day and Jai Newcombe have become the faces of their rebuilt midfield but Conor Nash and James Worpel are the unheralded heroes behind closed doors. The quartet combined for 108 possessions.
Darcy Cameron of the Magpies and Jack Ginnivan of the Hawks have a disagreement.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
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