Jack Ginnivan, blame game, Collingwood Magpies trade, Hawthorn Hawks, new club, pushed out, Moonee Valley races, Graham Wright, premiership

The trade blame game with Jack Ginnivan continues to be divisive over the question of exactly who jumped on his Hawthorn deal first.

Premiership Pie Ginnivan only returned from Bali on Monday; he met with the Hawks on Tuesday and was officially traded on Wednesday in a whirlwind 48 hours.

Collingwood football boss Graham Wright insisted Ginnivan had not been “pushed towards the door” by the recent signings of Bobby Hill and Lachie Schultz – insisting no conversations had took place on the small forward’s offload with one year to run on his contract.

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But Ginnivan’s manager John Meesen said “the goals changed pretty quickly” this week.

“I picked up the phone and called Wrighty after my phone started blowing up,” he said on SEN.

“I was told Jack was floating everywhere.

“I don’t want to go tit for tat.

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“Following that conversation, I hung up on him knowing that Jack’s future was not at Collingwood.

“I was probably the one who started the discussion, thanks to trusted people in the industry saying his name was kind of being thrown around.

“(I asked Wright) where is he sitting? What does this look like? Can you give us assurance? There wasn’t a lot of fighting over wanting to keep Jack at the football club, so we had to act quickly.

“It’s the nature of the industry: we move on.”

There was speculation that Ginnivan had fallen out of favor with the Magpies – with the “last straw” being his big watch trip to the Moonee Valley races, according to SEN’s Sam Edmund.

The 20-year-old has endured a “whirlwind” rise at the Magpies – but his 2023 season was marred by a pre-season drugs scandal before his form saw him fall to the VFL before a late reprieve in the finals.

“He was a contracted player, he’s a top player, he’s 20 years old, and we’ve been pretty clear about our view of it that way,” Wright said.

“It was Jack’s decision to look elsewhere. Ultimately, we appreciate it, we accept it, and we move on.

Wright denied the Moonee Valley ordeal played a role in the club’s decision to trade Ginnivan.

“I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Players can choose what they want to do,” he said.

“It’s a bit unusual, obviously, the day before the grand final. But it wasn’t the end of the world either.

Meesen said he hoped the new club would give Ginnivan a fresh approach to his AFL career.

“When (Collingwood) decided to bring in guys over the last couple of years… I think it had a direct effect on Jack’s position in the Collingwood footy club standings,” he said.

“You have to read the room.

“Is he the most elite professional coach? Probably not – but he’s young. Few people are 20 years old.

“The whirlwind he’s been through… going from relatively unknown to this enigma and personality in the AFL industry… it’s probably hard to escape.

“Was it the standards, was it him, was it just being at Collingwood? The lens brought by Collingwood is intense.

“Less than 20 days ago, he became the first player.

“Hopefully this is what Jack needs to settle down in his career and probably take some attention away from him.”