Hawthorn star Jack Ginnivan slammed over ‘disrespectful’ post
Jack Ginnivan has swiftly found himself back in the spotlight, accused of disrespecting Port Adelaide and crossing the line.
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With the mild furore over his pub meal and goal celebration reduced to a simmer, Jack Ginnivan has swiftly thrown himself right back into the fire.
The 21-year-old contributed to Hawthorn’s impressive 37-point victory over the Western Bulldogs on Friday night that continued the Hawks’ scintillating rise.
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Ginnivan finished with 15 touches, four tackles, one goal and a game-high three goal assists as Hawthorn surged into a semi-final against Port Adelaide this Friday night.
In the spotlight for the innocuous move of having dinner out the night before the game, the small forward stuck it to the critics by simulating cracking and downing a beer when he kicked his only goal in the fourth quarter.
It was all taken in good spirits and his coach Sam Mitchell said afterwards he had no issue with his dinner choice or goal celebration.
But there is a suggestion Mitchell might take umbrage with Ginnivan’s latest move, which came via social media.
Swans ruckman Brodie Grundy posted a series of photos to Instagram on Sunday, with the caption “Post game snaps, finals edition”.
It came a day after Swans’ extraordinary comeback victory over GWS that put Sydney straight through to a preliminary final and features a number of shots from the victorious dressing room.
With the Hawks now a chance to face Sydney the SCG in a fortnight — if they get past the Power in Adelaide — Ginnivan couldn’t resist getting on the front foot and commenting on Brodie’s post.
In fact Ginnivan’s comment sits first on the post, which has almost 38,000 likes, declaring: “see u in 14 days.”
The undeniably cocky Ginnivan doesn’t just think his Hawks are a chance of making the preliminary final, he’s declaring it a certainty in roughly five words.
Unsurprisingly, that statement has drawn a strong response from fans, pundits and footy greats including Garry Lyon speaking On the Couch.
“I’ve come a long way in what we do and don’t accept on the field these days because you just have to move with the times,” Lyon said.
“I ain’t ever accepting that. I’m sorry. Jack Ginnivan can go to the pub, I don’t mind that, the Wizard hat celebration I can live with — I ain’t ever living with that.
“That’s disrespecting your opponent and making life difficult for the rest of your teammates.
“For me that’s a big miss.”
Fans were somewhat divided when responding to Ginnivan’s comment on Instagram.
“One week at a time young blood,” one tried to counsel the youngster.
“Liking your bravado there,” declared another.
“You are an arrogant bloke aren’t ya,” fired off another Instagram user.
“Settle down. Port will beat ya,” added another.
A number of people were happy to suggest simply that Ginnivan should “shut up”, while a few suggested the comment would blow up in his face.
“Mate come on, people will remember this forever if hawks lose this,” wrote one.
“Will be even funnier now when you lose,” said another.
One person that didn’t see the funny side of it all was Herald Sun and Fox Footy journalist Mark Robinson.
Speaking on AFL360 on Monday night, Robinson felt Ginnivan’s actions this time around had crossed a line.
“I’ve got no issue with him going to the pub, zero,” Robinson said. “I’ve got no issues with him doing (his celebration), good on you, no problem.
“But the rest is about him. This is about his team and he has disrespected Port Adelaide, who they play this week.
“He will say it’s only fun, but if you involve the club and your teammates, you have stepped over the line.
“I suspect Sam Mitchell or the captain or senior players need to pull him aside and say ‘hey Jack, you’re playing great football, but you’re still immature and you’re going too far. You shouldn’t have done that’.
“Not good enough. Not a good start to the week.
“Sam Mitchell will be asked about it, every Hawthorn player interviewed this week will be asked about it. It’s a thought pattern they didn’t have to deal with, but now they have to.”
Port Adelaide and its coach Ken Hinkley are under enormous pressure to avoid a second consecutive straight sets finals exit and get past Hawthorn on Friday night.
We suspect Ginnivan’s comment dismissing the Power might just come up prior to the opening bounce on Friday night.
Originally published as Hawthorn star Jack Ginnivan slammed over ‘disrespectful’ post
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