Why Jack Ginnivan is a ‘great target’ for the rebuilding Hawks this AFL trade period

Former Hawks goalkicker Ben Dixon believes premiership Magpie Jack Ginnivan is a “great target” for Hawthorn and in the club’s “sweet spot”, from both a list demographic and on-field needs viewpoint.

Ginnivan looms as the last-minute curveball of this year’s AFL trade period, with the Hawks keen to acquire to the goalkicker amid reports Collingwood is open to parting with him.

It comes just days after the Magpies landed one of this year’s big trade coups, securing gun small forward Lachie Schultz from Fremantle.

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Since Schultz’s link to the Pies emerged last week, commentators and fans have questioned what it would mean for Ginnivan’s future, considering fellow small forwards Bobby Hill and Beau McCreery are permanent best 22 players at Collingwood.

While Ginnivan, who’s contracted to Collingwood for next season, started on the field for last month’s Grand Final triumph over Brisbane, he played just 14 games in 2023, including five as the starting sub.

“Craig McRae backed him in all year,” Dixon said of Ginnivan on Fox Footy’s Trading Day. “He’s had his off-field battles, he’s had his on-field battles and ‘Fly’ stuck with him the whole way.

“But that’s clubland. Graham Wright said: ‘We’re open to the future of our players because it’s their decision whether they want to go or want to stay.

“I think when the Schultz one dropped, the penny dropped for Jack Ginnivan.”

Dixon said Ginnivan loomed as an ideal pick-up for the Hawks, especially after Tyler Brockman left them to join West Coast.

“He’s right in the sweet spot for where Hawthorn is at now, at 20 years of age,” Dixon said.

“It’s a great target. You lose Brockman and you pick up a Ginnivan into that forward line, (Jacob) Koschiztke possibly may go, you’ve got Mitch Lewis, who you build your forward line around.

“I love the fact that Hawthorn rebuilding. We saw what they produced late this year in terms of their young kids. Their midfield was top three this year, so their forward line and forward structure needs some tweaking. They need some young energy in there and I think Jack Ginnivan’s a perfect fit.

“I think it’s more an opportunity as well. You look at Collingwood … they won their finals by a single figure. They were the best team and Brisbane pushed them, but is that era going to be there for that run? And do you stick around and hope in a way? Or do you read the writing on the wall and say ‘my greatest opportunity for longevity in the game and success might be at another club’? That’s what you’ve got to weigh up as a player and I think it’s a lot more open than when we played going back that far.”

Western Bulldogs legend Brad Johnson said the Hawks shouldn’t be the only club trying to fight for Ginnivan’s services.

“You look at other clubs that could maybe at least ask the question around Jack – Essendon, Freo, Gold Coast are just three that spring straight to mind,” Johnson told Trading Day.

But Johnson said he believes Schulz’s inclusion wouldn’t have necessarily impacted Ginnivan’s spot in the team, as the ex-Docker likely replaces veteran Taylor Adams, who was last week traded to Sydney.

“For me, he (Ginnivan) was settled at Collingwood I think in terms of what Craig McRae had done for him, changed the way that he played his footy at times from the duck to actually just playing the game more effectively,” Johnson said.

“The Schulz inclusion for me was more the Taylor Adams out – and then the other three still survive in McCreery, Hill and Ginnivan. But he (Ginnivan) doesn’t see that himself personally now.

“If he didn’t have the medal, would he be staying at Collingwood?”