AFL news: High tackle ‘danger’ not ducking should be focus says Jack Ginnivan’s dad Craig

The AFL should be focussing on dangerous tackling technique and not his son’s high contact free kick count according to Jack Ginnivan’s dad.

Jack Ginnivan’s dad says the AFL and coaches are to blame for the spike in high contact free kicks because players are no longer instructed to tackle around the hips.

Ginnivan’s technique – modelled on fellow Bendigo region product Joel Selwood – has polarised the football world and came into sharp focus when he missed out on obvious free kicks against Hawthorn on Sunday.

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Ginnivan, 19, is not a ducker – instead he picks up groundballs low and stays low – which former coach Nathan Buckley described as a “skill”.

Craig Ginnivan, a local goalkicking legend in the 1980s and 1990s, said there was no rule legislating against that and it was time to talk about players applying illegal tackles instead.

“The reason they don’t go around the hips these days is because all coaches want them to pin the arms so they don’t get the ball out,” Craig Ginnivan said.

“They want a stoppage and they want to set up again. That’s creating more danger because they’re going high in the tackle and then putting them to the ground with their arms pinned.

Craig Ginnivan and son Jack, pictured in the year Jack joined his dad by producing a 100-goal season in Newstead.

“The AFL has caused a lot of the problem.

“The AFL and the coaches are to blame for the tackler going high because I know from country footy most coaches want players to pin the arms so they can’t get the ball out.

“That becomes a problem because when you’re turning them around to take them to the ground their arms are pinned, so the first thing they’re going to do is hit their head.

“It’s a bit of a catch 22.”

Footy legend Leigh Matthews backed Ginnivan’s technique.

“Why should you be easy to tackle?” Matthews said on 3AW.

“Why should you not be hard to tackle? I’ve been irritated in recent years that so many people barrack for the tackler.

“So why should you not go a bit lower and test the tackler’s technique? If he can’t go as low as your body is then you get a free kick.

“I think this is fair and reasonable but I feel like I’m the minority.”

Magpies coach Craig McRae encourages his players to absorb and take on tackles, which fits their mantra as a high pressure team.

Umpires are on track to pay the most high contact free kicks in nine years, with the 2022 average sitting at 10.2 per match.

Jack Ginnivan is tackled high by Carlton’s Adam Saad in round 11.

From 2015-2021 there were between 7.4 and 9.2 paid per match.

Head of umpiring Dan Richardson admitted to the Magpies on Monday that multiple free kicks to Ginnivan were missed.

The most obvious appeared to be when Hawk Changkuoth Jiath grabbed Ginnivan around the neck.

But the AFL has reassured the Pies that Ginnivan was not being adjudicated harshly by umpires because of his knack for winning free kicks.

Ginnivan and No. 1 pick Jason Horne-Francis lead the league with 12 high contact whistles this year, ahead of James Rowe (11) and Selwood (10).

Ginnivan’s eight goals from free kicks also leads the AFL, ahead of Charlie Curnow, Dylan Moore and Jeremy Cameron (all seven).

The Ginnivan camp is bemused that none of those players have been in the headlines given the small discrepancy.

Jack Ginnivan’s first 15 games in the AFL deserve to be celebrated.

Ginnivan has exploded this year as the showman in Collingwood’s forward line who deserves to be celebrated.

He’s booted 19 goals as a crafty small forward and rarely wastes an opportunity.

“The opposition hate him,” teammate Pat Lipinski said.

“They’re always doing things to him, which is a bit disappointing, but we’ve got to stand up for him.”

Originally published as AFL news: High tackle ‘danger’ not ducking should be focus says Jack Ginnivan’s dad Craig