Collingwood coach Craig McRae has launched an impassioned plea for his young star Jack Ginnivan following his admission of mental health struggles on Saturday.
The live small forward has been under the media microscope all season thanks to his free-kick drawing abilities and opened up to the impact following the club’s win against Port Adelaide.
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After playing a key role on Saturday, Ginnivan admitted the constant media scrutiny has taken its toll.
“It’s definitely affected my mental health and all that stuff, but I’m here, happy, smiling, when you’re scoring goals and winning it’s nice, so I can’t complain,” he said.
“I’ve got some strong leaders around me, Darcy Moore, Callum Brown is one of my best mates, he’s looking after me.
“My mom, my family are so amazing, up here every week. ‘Fly’ (Craig McRae), he’s a beautiful human, I love him even and he takes care of my day to day.
McRae said the constant scrutiny surrounding the 19-year-old has gone too far and the brakes may need to be pumped.
“We’re aware of that. We see it and we try to protect it. We get to a point where we say, ‘Maybe enough is enough; let’s take care of this kid,” McRae said.
“He’s creating all these stories, and again, we have to look at what we can control around that. He’s a 19-year-old boy, and he says his mental health is strained. Let’s take care of him, okay?”
Footy fans were quick to praise the youngster for his raw honesty during his post-match interview.
Channel 10’s Stephen Quartermain wrote: “Jack Ginnivan is a bloody beauty.”
Sam McClure of The Age wrote: “This was an outstanding interview by Sarah Jones with Jack Ginnivan on Fox.”
Peter Ryan of The Age wrote: “Ginnivan spoke well after the game on @FOXFOOTY. Forget the freebies debate, he played a much improved style of football today after seeming to doubt himself last fortnight , front and center, tried to use the ball as the first option.”
Since the opening weeks of the 2022 season, Ginnivan has divided football fans and media pundits over his tactics to attract free kicks by lowering his height and ensuring opponents’ arms end up on his neck.
The tactic forced the hand of the AFL which tightened guidelines around the rule and saw fans explode the following week when Ginnivan almost had his head ripped off his shoulders by Essendon’s Mason Redman.
Days later, the league admitted it got the call wrong and the 19-year-old should have been rewarded.
Ginnivan was again at the center of the first half against the Power when he was tackled by Robbie Gray.
After collecting his foot, Ginnivan appeared to have dropped to his knees and dropped his left shoulder as Gray’s tackle went up and around his neck.
The ref didn’t bite and pinged Ginnivan for holding the ball.
“Every time he comes up, there’s a question among football fans,” Fox Footy commentator Mark Howard said.
Former St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt backed the referee’s decision, saying it was the right call this time.
“We’ve lost our minds over the last few weeks and this young man has been in the middle,” Riewoldt said at half-time.
“You’ve got to love the fact that he comes out here on the biggest stage and with all the noise, all the talk, despite the fact that he’s only a 19-year-old kid, he comes out this quarter and absolutely lights it up.
“It’s amazing to see him. I don’t think we’ve talked about a 22-year-old as much as we have this guy and what’s maybe been lost a little bit in all this is how well he’s played.”