Collingwood coach Craig McRae has dismissed any notion of animosity towards small forward Jack Ginnivan, despite Ginnivan’s recent comments suggesting that Collingwood closed the door on him. Ginnivan, who joined Hawthorn after Collingwood’s 2023 premiership win, revealed that none of his former teammates reached out to persuade him to remain with the club when he expressed interest in joining Hawthorn.
The 21-year-old expressed disappointment over the lack of communication from his premiership teammates as rumors circulated about his potential move to his childhood club, Hawthorn.
“I have spent one year there (Collingwood) and no one has reached out wanting me to stay,” Ginnivan stated on the Tommy Talks podcast earlier this week. “And I have Hawthorn – where I have had 10 players message me saying ‘come to the Hawks’.”
Expressing his disappointment, Ginnivan remarked, “The most disappointing thing was probably just no coach or player reaching out to say ‘I want you to stay and we really value you’ and those things.”
Throughout 2021 to 2023, Ginnivan played 42 games and scored 58 goals for Collingwood.
Ginnivan’s remarks come ahead of the Pies’ upcoming match against the Hawks, with Collingwood coach McRae swift to refute Ginnivan’s critical remarks.
“That’s his, maybe, recollection of it. He was definitely wanted,” McRae told media on Friday ahead of his side’s Gather Round clash.
“We love Jack, we still do.
“He’s a premiership player and he’s always welcome back at our club. We’ll celebrate Jack whenever we have a reunion. He will always be a Collingwood player.”
When asked why no Collingwood figures reached out to Ginnivan during his departure, McRae offered a hypothesis as to why no communication occurred.
“I do recall that. That was such a short period, to be honest,” McRae said.
“Graham Wright and I were made aware that this (trade) was happening at short notice and it happened really quickly.
“So there was probably 12 hours of limbo and if that’s a time that maybe others (Pies players) wouldn’t have had awareness of what was going on, that could’ve explained it.”
Collingwood faces Hawthorn at Adelaide Oval on Sunday evening.
