Wreck It Ralph: Will the exhausting life of being the target catch up with Ginnivan and Watson?

The brilliance and magnitude of the Hawks’ small forwards provided great fodder for footy fans all year, but Jon Ralph asks, how long can they sustain having a target on their backs?

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 13: Jack Ginnivan of the Hawks celebrates a goal during the AFL Second Semi Final match between Port Adelaide Power and Hawthorn Hawks at Adelaide Oval, on September 13, 2024, in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

Living your football career with a target on your back is exhilarating but exhausting.

Jason Akermanis soared to the highest of highs – premierships, Brownlows, big contracts – but found himself a “consultant” who departed multiple clubs.

Stephen Milne was one the modern era’s smartest and most versatile small forwards, but the media spotlight and fan anger can’t have been easy to live with.

For Hawthorn’s mosquito fleet the rollicking rollercoaster ride came up short against Port Adelaide despite the wildest of adventures.

Nick Watson kicked three spectacular goals and Jack Ginnivan again inserted himself into the conversation with spectacular effect but played his role with two clever goals at key times.

What happens next is one of the most fascinating storylines of the off-season.

Ginnivan dominated the storylines going in and out of the semi-final. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Ginnivan has already found out to his detriment that the flip side of being a target – and sometimes public enemy No. 1 – isn’t always positive for your career.

After his 40-goal debut season where the Pies rookie bleached his hair, ducked into a million tackles and generally did everything possible to draw the attention his off-season was a stinker.

He didn’t train that hard, was targeted by supposed friends who videotaped him taking drugs in a pub toilet cubicle and was suspended for two rounds.

He only won his spot back in round 5, was out of the side by round 12 and was probably lucky to play in the premiership as he played the final six games kicking only four total goals including three goalless finals.

It wasn’t Ginnivan’s fault someone illegally taped him over the cubicle but that target on his back meant even when he believed he was in a private setting he was actually public property.

The point is this – as much as Ginnivan would believe his relentless antics to court controversy and needle rivals fuel his play it has to eventually drain you of energy.

And at times it can drag you down.

How many needless conversations with senior leaders and coaches, how many family members must he have had checking in on him after his Grundy Insta reply and London Tavern visit in the final eight days of his season?

How many times has he checked in on social media in that time only to be met with disgusting taunts and sledges that players find impossible to ignore?

All of it was brilliant finals fodder and catnip for the fans who have such strong opinions on his every waking moment.

The small forward has been a beacon for scrutiny. Picture: Ben Clark

But is it sustainable across what he will hope is a 10-year career?

When you have to go to war every week – against public opinion, with a fizzed-up opponent, with the world against you – how long can that emotion last?

Nick Watson is much more talented than Ginnivan, and his next 10 years will be among the most exciting in the AFL.

His issue isn’t courting the public’s rage or approval.

As coach Sam Mitchell has said, he has spent his entire junior career inspiring fury from opposition fan bases in private school football.

The celebrations are hardwired into his football DNA.

But like Ginnivan after his first year he will get even greater scrutiny.

He won a Ginnivan-style free kick deep in the pocket after diving into Miles Bergman’s tackle and throwing his head back theatrically.

He nailed the curling set shot and his final two goals smacked of a rare talent.

He found space to mark and goal from a difficult angle in the third term, then burnt off a Port Adelaide opponent on the run for his third major early in the last term.

The suspicion is that he has so many ways to kick goals that he might one day be impossible to stop.

But rival sides will spend the summer scheming and soon play their best small defender on him, who will be more aware of the ways Hawthorn’s small forwards win free kicks.

Want to talk about the upside for Watson?

Watson made a splash in his first two finals games. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Even from round 9 onwards, when he seemed to straighten up his kicking, he kicked 23.18 with eight total misses.

Across the entire year he kicked 25.27 and had 10 total misses.

Fix that and he’s an All-Australian in no time at all.

Dylan Moore won a high free kick early by ensuring his head hit the turf with maximum force after Jase Burgoyne’s tackle.

He is third in the competition for head high free kicks and Ginnivan and Watson aren’t far behind.

James Peatling leads the AFL with 24 head-high free kicks for, followed by Harley Reid.

Hawks forward Moore is third on 20, Watson is equal fourth on 17 (along with Jason Horne-Francis and Tristan Xerri) and Ginnivan rounds out the top 20 in the AFL with 11.

So the AFL umpiring department will be on watch next year.

The question for the AFL is how they stop that alarming trend of players exacerbating contact with the turf?

Having told players dangerous tackles which see heads connecting with turf will be penalised, of course the unintended consequence was going to be players trying to win free kicks at the expense of their brains.

The small forwards at Hawthorn draw free kicks with ease. Picture: Michael Klein

At minimum the AFL should be issuing warning letters – or phone calls – to their clubs by the week.

Hawthorn should be proud of the way they finished their season.

Their coach handled himself with admirable grace in his post match press conference, his anger at Ken Hinkley palpable without crossing the line into insult.

It is laughable to suggest that because Mitchell taunted Michael Hibberd with an injection gibe nine years ago he has lost the moral high ground in this instance.

Similarly, Ginnivan didn’t cost the Hawks a Grand Final despite some hot takes on Saturday.

Hawthorn will be box office next year.

The AFL would be crazy not to slot them into prime time.

Everyone will want a piece of these Hawks, including the AFL’s fixturing team.

But the flip side will be they won’t slip under anyone’s guard this time around.

The heat will come, but they will get better.

Mitchell’s Hawks will face plenty of expectations in 2025. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

They have the smartest coach in the game who, like Alastair Clarkson before him, will spend summer looking at new ways to play and different game plan wrinkles to get an edge.

He will have an absolutely elite defence with Tom Barrass and Josh Battle, at some stage next year will hope to have Mitch Lewis and Changkuouth Jiath at their best.

The club’s pair of No. 7 picks Cam Mackenzie and Josh Ward both showed enough at times to believe they have bright futures.

So the challenge for Hawthorn is not to get in the way of that potential success.

Ginnivan might believe the only way to thrive is to poke the bear every single time.

If the umpires haven’t twigged to the Hawks winning head-high free kicks now maybe they never will.

So Hawthorn moves into a long off-season knowing it was good enough to win the flag but coming up a bounce or two short.

The spotlight will be even brighter next season and how the Hawks use this off-season will define whether those bright lights are blinding or exactly where Ginnivan and his mates do their best work.

Originally published as Wreck It Ralph: Will the exhausting life of being the target catch up with Ginnivan and Watson?