AFL Collingwood v Geelong: Nick Daicos defends teammate Jack Ginnivan
One of Jack Ginnivan’s teammates has revealed the story behind his GoPro antics and detailed what they think of the fiery small forward’s displays.
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Collingwood young gun Nick Daicos says the Magpies “love” what Jack Ginnivan brings to the table, amid renewed criticism of the second-year forward.
Ginnivan was called out for taking hold of a GoPro camera to video the celebrations after Collingwood’s Round 1 win over St Kilda.
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Fresh off signing a new two-year extension with the Pies on Tuesday, Ginnivan was also criticised for staging in last weekend’s round three loss to Geelong.
Daicos said Ginnivan was just following club requests and playing his role.
“We’ve had this philosophy throughout the entire pre-season and going into the year that we want to give back to the community and our fan base who have stuck with us paying membership fees and watching games during Covid,” Daicos said.
“So we thought the GoPro would give them great insight. Jack was encouraged by the club to take it, so it’s nothing on Jack. He just keeps playing his role and we love what he’s about.”
Daicos said he had tried to focus on his football and avoid the spotlight in his debut season, which has seen him average 25 disposals from his first three games.
“I try and avoid the GoPro and the cameras to be honest,” he said.
Ginnivan has played all three games for the Magpies this season, kicking four goals.
The youngster’s contract extension comes as fellow rookie draftees Charlie Dean and Aiden Begg also recommitted to the club.
CHAOS KIDS: PIES FANS IN FOR A WILD RIDE
Sam Landsberger and James Mottershead
What is your club’s brand?
Members at many teams are probably still unsure how their heroes are coached to play.
It takes some clubs a long chunk of a year to establish their identity.
Not Craig McRae’s Collingwood.
Just three games into the new coach’s reign and his game plan stands out like Dane Swan’s tattoos.
Collingwood plays chaos football. McRae’s Magpies apply more pressure than an overbearing tennis parent.
They hunt and chase and handball the Sherrin forward in an unpredictable fashion.
They aim to lock the ball in the front half, be it through thrills or spills.
Geelong’s Tom Stewart said it best after facing a bunch of their frenetic forwards on Saturday night.
“Collingwood are very similar to Richmond of the golden era (2017-2020),” Stewart said.
“Obviously having ‘Fly’ McRae and Leppa (fellow former Richmond assistant Justin Leppitsch) they’ve really got that chaos feel about them.
“Get the ball forward, get after it and high pressure. They were really impressive tonight.”
Last year the Magpies kicked one goal in the first three quarters against Geelong in a match that could’ve helped cure insomnia.
On Saturday night they booted a wasteful four goals from their first 35 inside 50s and then nine goals from their next 15. The last quarter produced nothing but a behind and suddenly that’s where the Pies were … behind.
Yes, a young group learning a wildly contrasting style might attract patches of inconsistency.
But the Magpies became just the second team to pile on nine goals in a quarter against Geelong this century.
That burst came after surrendering an early lead. It brimmed with mettle, inspirational onballer Taylor Adams the source of the surge.
It was a dizzying high before a disappointing low as a 37-point buffer became a 13-point loss.
But, boy. What a ride.
“The game felt like how we wanted it to look,” McRae said.
“The inside 50m battle we won, we won contested possession and our pressure at times was really, really high.
“It looked like how we wanted the game to be played. Funny, sometimes you don’t get the result.”
Last year the Magpies played it safe with the Sherrin and enjoyment appeared to wane even for the players.
They went short and maintained possession, averaging 107 marks (No. 2 in the AFL).
They ranked No. 5 for set-shot accuracy. But they also played the bulk of matches in the back half.
They ranked 16th for scores, 14th for time in forward half differential and 16th for inside 50m differential.
That’s exactly why McRae decided you’ve got to risk it to get the biscuit.
“It’s all stemmed from trying to get the ball inside 50 more — 18th last year,” McCrae said.
Now there is energy gushing after every goal, highlighting the spirit that is also seeping into the stands.
This year Magpie marks are down 25 per cent (80 per game). Long kicks and metres gained by handball have gone from the bottom four to the top four.
The ball movement is bound by the excitement of uncertainty.
It is a brilliant new blueprint that, according to some players, still has remnants of Nathan Buckley’s ultra-defensive mantra ingrained.
But after consecutive fade-outs the worry is whether this sapping style can be applied for four quarters.
McRae reckons fitness is far from an issue after poaching high performance boss Jarrod Wade from NRL runner-up South Sydney Rabbitohs.
And he’s not short on power runners. Against the Cats recruit Pat Lipinski clocked 16km, Will Hoskin-Elliott 15.4km and Jack Crisp 15.3km.
But can the Maggies maintain their harassing rage for 120 minutes?
They kicked 1.3 (9) in the final quarter against Adelaide and 0.1 (1) against the fast-finishing Cats, who became corridor kings.
“We’re playing a really high energy, ferocious attack of the game and the ball,” McRae said.
“We’re just finding out whether we can do that for four quarters at the moment.
“That’s two weeks in a row where we haven’t really scored much in the last quarter, so they’re little things we’re finding out about ourselves.”
The Magpies won contested ball in each of the first three quarters against Geelong and then lost the count by 14 in the last.
Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron grabbed 10 marks inside 50m. Collingwood combined for seven.
Premiership utility Jordan Roughead will stiffen the defence in a couple of weeks, although system failures — and not the lack of a big backman — proved costly against the Cats.
But they were isolated episodes, particularly late, and overall it was a night where belief in McRae’s system crystallised despite defeat.
Excitement will grow alongside maturity.
Oli Henry appears to have grown up studying Stevie Johnson’s playbook while Jack Ginnivan is one who might polarise but must be loved by the Magpies.
On Saturday night this kid looked more like Harry Potter nemesis Draco Malfoy.
It didn’t worry McRae, nor would Ginnivan’s double-goal after sucking in Tom Atkins and drawing a free kick before the ball went back to the middle.
“To be honest I don’t care if he’s got pink hair, so long as he keeps playing his role and putting pressure on and getting under the opposition’s skin,” McRae said.
“There’s a role for that, within the rules.”
Debutant Reef McInnes’ first kick was a chaos entry that led to a Brody Mihocek soccer goal.
Things just happened when the lively kid called McInnes went near it.
And the VFL beat an experienced Geelong line-up. Callum Brown has now had 58 touches in two weeks.
Mason Cox kicked three VFL goals and could probably get away with telling people he is sporting sunglasses because of the bright future he sees at Collingwood.
McRae qualified as a schoolteacher while playing in premierships at Brisbane and, given the identity he has stamped by round 3, clearly this is a man who can educate.
“I’ve been really pleased, to be honest. I wasn’t sure whether we’d pick up the gamestyle this quick,” McRae said.
“We’ve been really competitive and tonight you saw our style. You come watch us play and you go, ‘Wow, this is an exciting brand’.
“The pressure is really high and you know how we’re trying to play.”
McRae: We’re disappointed but there’s plenty of positives
Collingwood might have to tinker its game style to help it play out four quarters, Craig McRae says.
The Pies faded in the last quarter on Saturday night to give up a five-goal lead at three-quarter-time to the Cats, eventually falling by 13-points.
Collingwood went goalless in the last term as Geelong piled on seven goals and the last eight of the game, and McRae pointed to the Pies’ ability to carry out his new game style as an issue over Rd 2 and 3.
“I think with our group we’re playing a really high energy, ferocious attack of the game and the ball and we’re finding out whether we can do it for four quarters at the moment,” McRae said.
“That’s two weeks in a row we haven’t done it for four quarters so they’re little things we’re finding out about ourselves.
“It’s a high-taxing game plan and we’ve got a young group so we might see if we have to evolve a little bit to get us through the four quarters.”
McRae said while the loss was disappointing, the Pies were still finding out about themselves and what level they’re at.
“It’s hard not to be disappointed to get to the stage of the game where you’re up by five goals at three-quarter-time and then not get a result,” he said.
“I think with where we’re at the moment we’re finding a bit out about ourselves and what level we can compete at against mature opposition and a quality team.
“I thought there were a lot of positives to take out of it.
“One of the good things we reflected on was the fight. When the Cats got a couple of goals up in the third quarter to fightback and kick nine goals for the quarter is something we take out of it.”
Despite the loss McRae said he has been surprised at how quickly his players have adapted to the game plan.
The Pies were box office for three quarters, highlighted by a nine-goal third term, their best since 2016.
“I’ve been really pleased to be honest, I wasn’t sure if we’d pick up the game style this quick but we’ve been really competitive,” he said.
“I think after tonight the players can feel like they can trust the system. Even though you don’t get the result there’s a level of belief in what we’re doing is right.
“We just didn’t capitalise on it in the first half. The game was how we wanted it to look … the inside-50 battle we won, contested footy we won and pressure at times was really high.
“It looked like how we wanted the game to be played but it’s funny sometimes you don’t get the result and we got shown we have to do it for a little bit longer.”
With no Jordan Roughead or Charlie Dean, Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins kicked nine goals between them for the Cats and proved to be the difference.
McRae said he expected Roughead to be back for Collingwood’s Rd 5 trip to Brisbane.
Wasteful Pies blow massive lead in stunning Cats comeback
Geelong pulled off one of the great heists on Collingwood on Saturday night, coming from 37-points down late in the third quarter to win by 13-points.
The game looked finished at three-quarter-time as the box office Pies held a 30-point lead, but a Jeremy Cameron inspired final quarter surge sealed a memorable win for the Cats.
Geelong piled on seven goals to none to seal one of its more memorable wins in recent memory.
Collingwood was left to rue atrocious first half goalkicking as the deadeye Cats ended up making them pay.
The Pies won inside-50s by 12 and contest possessions by 23 but couldn’t capitalise in front of goal, blowing countless opportunities.
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The two teams’ new game styles were on full display early, but it was Collingwood who got the better of operation take territory with seven more inside-50s.
But wayward goalkicking robbed them of a bigger quarter-time lead than 10-points.
The main culprit was Jordan De Goey.
It was only poor goal kicking that stopped De Goey from having one of the best individual quarters in recent memory
The 26-year-old had 12 disposals and two clearances but missed four shots at goal you would expect him to kick, finishing the quarter with four behinds.
Conversely the Cats’ two goals came from pinpoint set shots on the chalk of the boundary line, both 45m from goal, courtesy of key forwards Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron.
The Pies’ goalkicking woes didn’t get any better in the second quarter as they squandered more chances in front of goal, opening the door for the Cats to take the lead into halftime.
It was illustrated by the fact the Cats led by five-points but had kicked two more goals than the Pies.
Collingwood’s territory dominance and poor conversion played perfectly into Geelong’s hands who were able to hurt the Pies on the counter-attack.
Brandon Parfitt and Cameron were able to get out the back of Collingwood’s defence to kick goals from point blank range, while Isaac Smith and Patrick Dangerfield converted free kicks.
Brody Mihocek kicked the Pies’ only goal for the quarter, coming after a gut-busting run from the wing to deep inside 50.
🚨 Jeremy Cameron's got five 🚨#AFLPiesCatspic.twitter.com/otiplkyX5o
— AFL (@AFL) April 2, 2022
The game had been on Collingwood’s boot and when they finally kicked straight in the third quarter the MCG came to life.
After Tom Hawkins kicked the first of the term, the Pies piled on the next seven of the game and nine of the next 10 to jump out to a game-high 37-point lead.
It was some of the most exciting footy Collingwood had played in years, kicking nine goals in a quarter for the first time since 2016.
The final break seemed to reinvigorate the Cats who kicked five goals in 17-minutes to level the score.
It came on the back of winning clearances and contested ball, accompanied with more direct ball movement which gave their forwards more space to work with.
Jeremy Cameron benefited immensely and kicked two goals, while Mitch Duncan, Mark Blicavs, and Brad Close all kicked one each.
It was fitting that Cameron iced the game for the Cats with just 90-seconds left on the clock, kicking his third goal of the quarter.
Welcome to the big time, Nick Daicos 🙌#AFLPiesCatspic.twitter.com/eNL9bDYiqC
— AFL (@AFL) April 2, 2022
Daicos’ magic moment
The moment of the first quarter was reserved for Nick Daicos, who had been moved into a half forward and midfield rotation following the inclusion of Brayden Maynard.
Daicos pounced on a loose ball from a stoppage on the 50m logo, swung onto his right foot and off a couple of steps nailed the goal on the run.
Stoic Stewart
It wasn’t only Collingwood’s miserable goalkicking that held them back in the first half.
While the Cats’ defence came under a barrage of Magpie pressure, Tom Stewart proved a hard man to pass for the Pies, and even better for Geelong, the All-Australian’s rebound game was at its best.
The 29-year-old had five first-half intercepts, but his 16 disposals for a game-high 508m gained (150m more than the next best) helped the Cats to a slender lead at the main break.
Momentum shifter
When Ollie Henry ran Joel Selwood down on the last line of Geelong’s defence it symbolised how the younger Pies were starting to run over the top of their older opponents.
Henry kicked the goal from the free kick and in a moment of madness Jack Ginnivan was cleaned up after the kick and awarded another free.
The 19-year-old kicked the goal and the Pies got the next two through Jamie Elliott and De Goey to kick out to a five-goal lead.
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