Jack Ginnivan mocks former club as Collingwood fans torched for 'hypocritical' act

Hawthorn protagonist Jack Ginnivan has produced a sensational game to sink his former club Collingwood as the Magpies fanbase received backlash for booing the youngster throughout the game. Ginnivan was at his best on Saturday night with 31 disposals and four clearances in arguably the best performance of his young AFL career.

The Hawks ran away with the 66-point victory, which leaves the reigning premiers fighting to keep their hopes alive in 2024. Ginnivan was in the thick of the action from the start having started a tussle with Pat Lipinski in the second quarter.

This prompted Brayden Maynard to go after Ginnivan as the contest took a turn. At one stage, Maynard landed a strong elbow on Ginninvan, leaving the 21-year-old floored. While Ginnivan was lauded by Hawthorn fans for his all-action performance, his gestures after his two goals caused uproar at the MCG.

Ginnivan scored in the third and fourth quarter and decided to mock his former club. In front of 74,171 fans, Ginnivan kissed the Hawthorn badge. After his second goal, Ginnivan gestured it was bedtime for Collingwood after one of his goals.

The gesture was alluding to their title defence slipping away from them as they sit 13th on the AFL ladder. And the 21-year-old certainly drew the ire of the crowd with the Hawthorn star hounded for his actions. A portion of Collingwood fans booed their former player throughout the contest.

And Collingwood supporters booing Ginnivan was deemed 'hypocritical' by rival clubs. Ginnivan was heavily targeted by opposition crowds when he played for Collingwood. The action-filled teen with blonde hair copped the wrath of rival fans in 2022, which prompted the Collingwood fanbase to fiercely defend the youngster at the time and call for the booing to stop.

However, it appeared Collingwood fans were getting in on the action this time around even if Ginnivan was mocking his former club. Ginnivan's exit from the Magpies may have raised eyebrows and the youngster clearly wanted to let them know his feelings. But AFL fans were quick to call out the Collingwood fanbase for targeting Ginnivan at the MCG.

Sam Mitchell praises Jack Ginnivan's growth

After the game, Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell tried to quell the potential drama around Ginnivan having antagonised his old club and praised the 21-year-old for how he has adapted at his first year at the Hawks. "Ginni is one of those players that the crowd love and the media loves to talk about ... but in our preparation we didn't make much of him," Hawks coach Mitchell said post-game.

"We look more at what he does for us as a side. We know that he's been an important player for us across the year and we've missed him the last couple of weeks.

"To get him back, we knew it would bring a lot of energy and the sense of theatre of the game was fantastic. But for us it was really important that he played his role and did his job, and he did more than that."

Mitchell addressed the attention Ginnivan receives from rival fans and said he handles it very well. "If you think about how long it feels like he's been around - how many times he's been on the back page or there's been a story about him - he seems like he's much older," Mitchell said.

"But he's 21 years old, so he's still maturing, still growing into his footy and still learning how to handle different opposition and situations and roles."

Ginnivan was the best of a strong group on Saturday against Collingwood with Conor Nash (29 disposals, eight clearances), Jai Newcombe (25, six), Will Day (26, five) and James Worpel (28, five) all helping tear the reigning champions apart. Connor MacDonald and Luke Breust both kicked four goals, while Nick Watson added three.

Jack Ginnivan trade backfires on Collingwood

Collingwood stunned fans when they traded away Ginnivan last year. The Magpies decided to part ways with Ginnivan at the end of last season, sending him to Hawthorn. To fill the void, Collingwood sent pick 34 plus their future first-round pick to Fremantle in exchange for Lachie Schultz.

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And AFL great Kane Cornes compared the duo ahead of the clash at the MCG and claimed the numbers were not great for the Magpies. Schultz currently has an overall player rating of 6.85 compared to Ginnivan's 5.98, but the Magpies would have been expecting a lot more.

“The trade that they made to get Lachie Schultz in, which I supported at the time, I felt this was going be an excellent recruit,” Kane Cornes said on 'Footy Classified' on Channel 9 on Monday night. “But you look at it six months down the track, you go, well this has been a disaster really. And they let Ginnivan go. Ginnivan’s about to turn 22 at the end of the year, Schultz is going to be 27, and Ginnivan is producing far greater impact in pretty much every stat ... he’s been a far more impactful player.”