Collingwood fumes at Rhyan Mansell’s ugly cheap shot on Jack Ginnivan

Richmond defender Rhyan Mansell could be facing Match Review Officer scrutiny after a “cheap shot” on Magpies teen Jack Ginnivan.

Richmond defender Rhyan Mansell could be facing Match Review Officer scrutiny after a “cheap shot” on Collingwood young gun Jack Ginnivan during Saturday afternoon’s AFL clash at the MCG.

Richmond defender Rhyan Mansell could be facing Match Review Officer scrutiny after a “cheap shot” on Collingwood young gun Jack Ginnivan during Saturday afternoon’s AFL clash at the MCG.

Ginnivan had trash-talked Shane Edwards after creating a Collingwood goal from a turnover late in the first term, quickly becoming Richmond’s public enemy No. 1 for the afternoon.

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The Tigers took every opportunity to be physical with the 19-year-old prodigy, but Mansell took that a step further.

Late in the third quarter of the Round 8 contest, Ginnivan attempted to pick up the footy before Mansell landed on his back.

As the siren sounded for three-quarter time, Mansell appeared to thrust his forearm into the back of Ginnivan’s head on two occasions, sparking a brief melee among the players.

“A double forearm to the back of the head,” Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall said on Fox Footy.

“He’ll cop a fine or a week for that – probably a fine because it was low impact. But maybe there could be an option to pay a free kick after the siren.”

St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt continued: “We could hear the Collingwood players asking the umpires, ‘Why is that not a free kick?’ And the umpire said, ‘It’s after the siren, we wish we could pay a free kick but we can’t’.

“Amazing scenes at three quarter-time. Clearly you would expect if it was in general play Mansell would’ve been done for two free kicks. But because it was after the siren, the umpires were powerless to do anything about it, other than potentially report the player.

“Mansell comes over the top with the one elbow, goes again a second time – which is pretty poor form.”

Would have loved to hear the commentators condemn this far more strongly. More needs to be done to stop footy players thinking it’s ok to hit someone in the head as a tough act, and stop fans celebrating them for it. #AFLTigersPieshttps://t.co/SLR1EFZPuX

— Shana Morgan (@shana_morgan) May 7, 2022

Geez the #Richmond defenders must feel super tough getting into a teenager #AFLTigersPies#Ginnivan

— Paul Johnson (@pjohnson_sports) May 7, 2022

That was a cheap shot from Rhyan Mansell on Jack Ginnivan. Nothing tough about that

— Marc McGowan 🗣✍️👨🏻‍💻📰 (@ByMarcMcGowan) May 7, 2022

Richmond bared its teeth in Dustin Martin’s celebrated return to competitive footy, breezing past Collingwood by 27 points on the back of Tom Lynch’s five first-half goals.

The Tigers moved a match-high 47 points clear in the final quarter, only for the Magpies to add scoreboard respectability with four late goals.

Martin showed glimpses of his brilliant best in his first match since Round 1, after taking personal leave to mourn his late father, but it was Lynch who tore the contest apart.

With All-Australian defender Darcy Moore for company, Lynch went to work early with 10 disposals by quarter-time, then added four majors in a towering second-term performance.

Lynch seemed to pluck the Sherrin any time it was in his vicinity and finished with six goals, after Moore conceded only 10 in seven rounds before Saturday.

He could easily have had seven at the main break, but sent a straightforward set shot out on the full and missed horribly with a close-range snap early in the contest.

The Magpies grimly hung on for most of the match, other than the odd spurt of control but any hope of an unlikely comeback was frittered away with several near misses in the third quarter.

“I just think they’re a bit more seasoned, Richmond,” Collingwood coach Craig McRae told reporters in the post-match press conference.

“I said to the players, we’re eight rounds in, so we’re eight dates into a relationship, if you like, and they’re more like married with three kids. It really feels like that.

“Our group’s learning how to play together and learning through our system and (how to) play their roles and then you’ve got youth versus experience in some parts of the ground. That’s reality.

“I think we had six under 21 today but we look better in terms of the way we want to play and in patches of the game, but we’ve just got to get better for longer.”

Dustin Martin of the Tigers. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Richmond dominated Collingwood in the contest and held sway in the clearances, particularly in the first half, while often suffocating the Pies with the pressure that was a trademark in its premiership years.

Jayden Short’s shift into the midfield was a success again in Dion Prestia’s absence, while former captain Trent Cotchin turned back the clock with a 29-disposal performance.

Jack Riewoldt had extra reason to celebrate, kicking his 728th career goal to move past all-time greats Peter Hudson and Wayne Carey and into 18th place overall.

Richmond will next face the Hawthorn Hawks at the MCG on Saturday, May 14, with kick-off scheduled for 1.45pm AEST.

— with Marc McGowan, NCA NewsWire