Sad Jack Ginnivan news exposed in behind-the-scenes photo
A photo from behind-the-scenes at Hawthorn has shown the club is ready to make a big decision about star forward Jack Ginnivan.
AFL
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Hawthorn has reportedly axed Jack Ginnivan ahead of the club’s Easter Monday blockbuster with Geelong.
The young Hawk has been spotted training with VFL club Box Hill on Saturday morning with a photo from behind the scenes showing him training with the reserve grade squad at Waverley Park.
Hawthorn does not have to finalise and announce its team until Sunday, however, the image of Ginnivan coming from the field says it all.
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The Herald Sun reports forward Connor Macdonald is closing in on a return to the side after missing the last few weeks with an ankle injury.
Macdonald’s return appears to have cost Ginnivan his spot in the team.
Hawthorn high performance manager Peter Burge provided an update on Macdonald’s fitness earlier this week.
“Connor trained at the end of last week and trained over the weekend,” he said.
“He’ll have a full week of training leading into the next game. We’ve got our main session on Saturday and that’ll hopefully be the final tick-off that he’s available to play.”
Ginnivan has been hot and cold in 2025 after coming off a disrupted pre-season where he struggled with an ankle injury.
Despite his struggles this year, Ginnivan was still the biggest talking point heading into his team’s grudge match with Port Adelaide last week.
The Hawks tasted defeat for the first time this year when they conceded 12 of the first 13 goals in their loss to the Power.
The match was the biggest blockbuster fixture during Gather Round after the heated exchange between Ginnivan and Power coach Ken Hinkley during last year’s heated finals series clash.
Hawks coach Sam Mitchell did not single anyone out after the loss, but he took the bizarre step of exposing his own team’s mistakes when appearing on TV this week.
Speaking on Nine’s Footy Classified on Monday, Mitchell was showed clips of Port Adelaide slicing through his team’s defence.
Mitchell and Jimmy Bartel highlighted several stoppages in Hawthorn’s defensive 50 where Port Adelaide players were left open, allowing them to take easy marks and slot goals.
“The players who are watching this, we haven’t had our (post-game) review yet, and they’re going to be like, ‘Oh great, this is exactly what we’re going to be covering’,” Mitchell began.
“We talk about goalkeepers. Soccer teams have one goalkeeper but we have maybe one, two, three, maybe five … all those guys are not doing anything. Can they be a bit more defensive and press the ground a little bit to try and stop goals?
“This has been a problem for us, which Jimmy has picked out, which is not ideal for me,” Mitchell quipped with a wry smile.
“Jimmy … maybe you can help me. What do you think we should be doing?”
Bartel then grilled Mitchell on how Port Adelaide’s Joe Richards took a mark with no one around him to kick a goal in the first minute of the game.
Bartel asked: “How, in the first 40 seconds, are we finding Joe Richards with a lot of space inside forward 50?”
Mitchell replied: “There was a lot of failures, this was the very first play of the game. It went to our end and then went straight down almost uncontested.
“You can see a bit of lack of communication. These guys are obviously very tight in their one-on-one match-ups, but are very much looking after their own backyard and haven’t opened their eyes and figured out where else they might need to help.
“This breakdown could have been fixed by any one of the guys. It probably showed why … we basically hadn’t had a possession by the time they put three (goals) on the board.”
Mitchell appears to have made his big move by dropping Ginnivan.
Originally published as Sad Jack Ginnivan news exposed in behind-the-scenes photo
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