For the second year in a row, Jack Ginnivan’s pre-match escapades have caused a stir before a big final.
The Hawthorn star headed out to a pub in Richmond with mates the night before the Hawks’ do-or-die elimination final blockbuster against the Western Bulldogs, nearly 12 months on from an evening at the races on grand final eve that saw him cop criticism from Collingwood coach Craig McRae.
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Ginnivan informed coach Sam Mitchell of his plans, didn’t drink and was home by 9pm, cheekily responding to a post on X from SEN journalist Sam Edmund about his 2023 visit to Mooney Valley before the Pies’ premiership.
However, the 21-year old has nevertheless been criticised by a group of former greats, with David King saying on Fox Footy it was a ‘poor look’ in light of the controversy he generated in 2023 – though he said there was ‘no harm’ in it.
“It just looks poor, doesn’t it, that he hasn’t learned from a previous mistake,” he said.
“But if it’s just dinner, a soft drink or two and then home at half time, there’s no harm there surely?”
Hawks legend Jason Dunstall gave it his tentative approval, but said he wouldn’t want to see Ginnivan put in a poor performance on Friday night.
“I guess people prepare for games in different ways,” he said.
“Personally, would I do that? I wouldn’t have thought so. I think you’re taking risks.
“But it’s a very different game, and the younger generation, they’re very different people.”
Speaking on SEN, Kane Cornes was more critical of Ginnivan, saying he should have been aware of the media circus a pre-match pub trip would generate.
“I don’t know why he would put himself in that position and cause a distraction,” Cornes said.
“He’s caused us to be talking about this now. Why would he think it’s a good idea, after what happened before the Grand Final last year, to go to a pub?
“He’s done nothing wrong here – he’s out until 9pm, he’s home before half time – but to put yourself in this position, what’s the risk-reward here?
“He hasn’t done anything wrong. He even tweeted Sammy Edmund last night. I just think it is an unnecessary distraction.
“I couldn’t think of anything worse than going to a pub before a game, but that’s me and this Hawthorn team does things differently and he does things differently.
“For me, it’s just the fact that we’re talking about it. There’s a picture in the Herald Sun – looks like he’s drinking a Pepsi Max. He’s clearly not drinking.
“I don’t know what the point in doing that, particularly after what happened before the Grand Final last year.”
Ginnivan again had a pithy response on X to the drama, posting again on Friday morning suggesting the affair was a beat-up.
‘Nothing short of pathetic’: Kane Cornes grills Port after qualifying final humiliation
Port Adelaide have once again been left reeling on the September stage, an 84-point annihilation at the hands of Geelong in a home qualifying final leaving their premiership dream in tatters.
Having risen to second on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season after six consecutive wins, the Power have a chance to make amends next week, though seem certain to head in as underdogs against a dangerous elimination final winner out of the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn.
The defeat was the Power’s second-heaviest ever in finals, behind their infamous 119-point loss to Geelong in the 2007 grand final, and leaves coach Ken Hinkley seemingly needing to perform a miracle to avoid extending his record as the longest coach in VFL/AFL history without a grand final appearance.
Speaking on SEN, Power great Kane Cornes didn’t pull his punches, saying his old club’s midfield was ‘absolutely smashed’ and labelling the performance ‘pathetic’.
“I was stunned last night, watching that,” he said.
“The midfield was absolutely smashed. I look at the first centre bounce clearance – Zak Butters wins it, handballs to Willem Drew, who just fumbles the footy for no reason.
“Geelong then goes inside 50 and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher drops an easy uncontested intercept mark. Port then gets the ball and turns it over with a 15-metre kick – and I was thinking ‘what the hell is going on here? There’s three mistakes in a minute’.
“There was something completely off about the group and it was completely different to the last nine weeks.”
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For Cornes, the answer is simple – the Power, who have now lost four finals in a row, three of them at the Adelaide Oval, ‘lack resilience’.
He singled out captain Connor Rozee for particular criticism, with the star midfielder held to just 16 disposals and minimal influence.
“I think they lack any little bit of resilience when things get a little bit tough. You can’t give up in a final like that,” he said.
“You look at it and go, there’s probably 10 Port Adelaide players who aren’t up to it last night and were found out – from Jase Burgoyne to Lachie Jones to Esava Ratugolea to Charlie Dixon to Jed McEntee to Francis Evans, the list goes on.
“You had that from your bottom 10, but you also had it from your top three or four. You can’t have that from Connor Rozee last night. You’re the captain of the footy club. He’s had a disappointing year, Rozee.
“When things get hard, they aren’t prepared to dig in and get momentum back.
“Some of the efforts were not acceptable. The last four finals have been a similar story.
“It was nothing short of a pathetic performance.”
Speaking after the match, under-fire coach Ken Hinkley called for calm, saying he was taking a ‘glass half full’ approach to the humiliation, and the fact the Power have an instant chance to make amends in next week’s semi-final.
“We’ve got to go back to what we think is more like us,” he said.
“Our last five or six weeks, we haven’t been like that. The group’s been pretty consistent with what they’ve been able to do and I’m going to trust they can be as consistent again, as soon as next week.
“I try to look at things in a positive way as best as I can. Glass half-full, every experience you get you have to learn from and you have to deal with.
“We’ve had another experience we certainly don’t like, and we want to be better than that, but our next chance is our chance to show we’re trying to get better again.
“I’m going to back them in and say I think they’ll deliver a much better result than that the next opportunity they get to play.
“They’ve been able to do that for a good period of time – bar, as you’re going to ask me, in finals.”
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