Collingwood coach Craig McRae has spoken to Jack Ginnivan about the player he wants to be
Collingwood coach Craig McRae has sat down with polarising star Jack Ginnivan to talk after his week in the spotlight.
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Collingwood coach Craig McRae has had conversations with Jack Ginnivan about “the player he wants to be” but continues to support the livewire small forward who has been a lightning rod for criticism in recent weeks.
Ginnivan has earnt equal measures of support and attacks in the wake of last week’s clash with Hawthorn during which he went unrewarded for what looked like several free kicks for high contact.
Post match McRae sought clarification from the AFL as experts raged about whether the 19-year-old had played for some frees and then gone unrewarded as a result in other contests.
The AFL conceded free kicks were missed and McRae said he had spoken to Ginnivan about making sure the right thing for the team remained his focus.
“I had some private conversations with Jack … just about the player he wants to be in the future,” McRae said on Thursday.
“I won’t add any more to that, but we want to have the back of all the players.
“I said to the whole group that I will have your back as long as you play for the team and do the right things for us and it was similar message along those lines.”
Ducking? More like bad tackling technique according to Jack Ginnivan's dad.
— SuperFooty (AFL) (@superfooty) June 7, 2022
The story: https://t.co/Hf42figJaIpic.twitter.com/g0YXWjjVA5
If u tackle Jack Ginnivan at the lowest point of ball pick up u will infringe on most occasions. Tackling technique changes due to size, speed and player athleticism.
— Tony Shaw (@TonyShaw22) June 5, 2022
McRae said he was comfortable after conversations with the AFL around the missed free kicks, which he said were just “mistakes” and he had moved on.
The Magpies have surged into finals contention with seven wins through the opening 12 rounds and will confront reigning premiers Melbourne on Monday as they reel from back-to-back losses and the fallout from a restaurant fight between players.
Melbourne has lost to Fremantle and Sydney in consecutive weeks and captain Max Gawn admitted to being “embarrassed” by the brawling players.
But McRae was not going to get lost in how they might respond to the turmoil that has resulted in a one-match ban for star defender Steven May.
“I guess we will find out Monday afternoon (how it’s affected them),” McRae said on Thursday.
“We’re trying to concentrate on ourselves and trying to prepare as best we can.
“We understand they’re clearly the best team in the competition for the past 18 months and we will have to bring our best.”
“Their best is clearly better than everyone’s to be honest, but it doesn’t take too much to take a couple of magnets out of every team and just be off 5 or 10 per cent.”
Jamie Elliott trained on Thursday and will make his return in the annual Queen’s Birthday clash after being a late withdrawal last week due to illness.
But Brody Mihocek remains in doubt after suffering a knock to his knee in Collingwood’s win over the Hawks.
“There is a slight concern, he’s not going to train much this week, he’s got a bit of bone bruising … and we have to manage him,” McRae said.
“We‘ve otherwise trained well, so we’re setting ourselves up to play well.”
Originally published as Collingwood coach Craig McRae has spoken to Jack Ginnivan about the player he wants to be
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