Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has made some staggering observations about Jack Ginnivan that Collingwood evidently missed during the colourful small forward’s first three years in the AFL.
Collingwood offloaded Ginnivan at the end of last year with a complicated swap of draft picks that involved the clubs’ immediate second-round selections, this year’s second-round picks, and also Collingwood’s fourth-round pick this year for Hawthorn’s selection in the third round.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Sam Mitchell on AFL livewire Jack Ginnivan.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today 
All in all it’s turned out to be — so far, at least — a massive win for the Hawks who didn’t give much away.
And not only that, Hawthorn have suddenly surged past Collingwood on the ladder.
Ginnivan rubbed his former club’s nose in it on the weekend with a sizzling performance where he recorded a career high 31 disposals and slotted two goals in the Hawks’ stunning victory over the reigning premiers.
The black-and-white army turned on their former player as Ginnivan taunted his old supporters while running amok.
Ginnivan’s cheeky antics, goal celebrations, and willingness to drop his knees in a tackle to draw high free kicks, make him a target for opposition fans.
He is regularly booed, a fact that displeased the Collingwood faithful only last year. But now, the tables have turned.
“There’s a lot of people out there who probably hate the way he plays,” Richmond great Tent Cotchin said on Channel 7’s Talking Footy.
“But when he’s inside your four walls, have you see more than what you expected from him?” Cotchin asked Mitchell.
Mitchell explained he was learning a lot about Ginnivan.
“Obviously we saw him last year as an antagonist …. and he did a lot of things in his first couple of years as a player,” Mitchell said on Talking Footy.
“When I started to look at him as a potential option for (Hawthorn), after meeting him, I realised that he was 20 years old.
“And you think about what he had done in his life and where he had been and the amount of back pages he had been on and some front pages, and you’re saying, ‘OK, this guy’s 20 years old and he’s already a premiership player and he’s got huge football IQ’, which (we) were very quick to pick up.
“And what I learnt pretty quickly, from a leadership perspective, I think he’s got an enormous amount of upside.”
Mitchell said Ginnivan was “great” at watching match vision, loved helping others “with their patterns”, and often explained “different aspects of the game” to his teammates.
“So when you add those things together, the only (question) was, ‘Does he have the work ethic?’” Mitchell said.
“And it didn’t take us very long to realise that he did.
“So I’m not surprised by what he’s done (at Hawthorn).
“It’s probably happened as quickly as I would have hoped … maybe a little bit quicker.
“But he’s still scraping the edges and I think there’s more growth in Jack Ginnivan’s game.”
Head here to watch more Talking Footy live and free on 7plus
And that is very good news Hawthorn given that Ginnivan could be with the club for the next decade.
Collingwood essentially replaced Ginnivan with former Fremantle player Lachie Schultz.
While Schultz is also a strong small forward, he is 26 years old (turning 27 this year) and has only managed 15 games this season.
Schultz missed the game against Hawthorn due to a concussion injury.
