Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes says Collingwood youngster Jack Ginnivan is being victimized by the AFL after the league’s response to him at the weekend.
The AFL admitted a refereeing error should have seen Ginnivan awarded a free after Essendon’s Mason Redman brought him up, but said the 19-year-old had initiated the contact.
The incident happened during the first quarter of Collingwood’s thrilling post-siren win over Essendon on Sunday.
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“In this passage of play, Collingwood’s Ginnivan is responsible for the initial high contact, but Essendon’s Redman then continues the tackle unreasonably, holding Ginnivan by the neck,” read an AFL statement on Monday in the evening.
The AFL has admitted Ginnivan should have been awarded a free for this tackle on Mason Redman (Getty)
“In that case Ginnivan should have been awarded a free kick.
“Overall, the umpires did a fantastic job of officiating the high-scoring interpretation in all of the games over the weekend.
“There are cases where, at full speed, in real time, at ground level, some decisions are extremely difficult to make, and this is an example of that.”
The league’s explanation didn’t sit well with Cornes, who has taken issue with how Ginnivan has been refereed numerous times this season.
“It’s tough, like it was last week. That was always going to happen,” he told 9News Melbourne.
“That was a violent tackle and I’m not sure how that free kick wasn’t called. Jack Ginnivan has been attacked again by the AFL. In this case, he is absolutely (being victimized).
“He needs to play better, his last two weeks have been poor so I’m not sure if that’s been a distraction for him.
“You’re refereed for 16 weeks first leg and then they change it on the eve of the final, it’s not fair.
“For a young man, he’s dealt with a lot and some of it is of his own doing, but it can be a distraction for him and that’s the result, his form.”
Cornes’ sentiment was echoed by Ginnivan’s teammate Mason Cox, who suggested the 19-year-old striker was not protected by the referees.
Controversy erupted when Ginnivan denied the free kick
“It’s wild to think that high tackles have been put into the game to protect the health of the players and are now being blatantly ignored for a 19-year-old,” Cox tweeted.
“How can we think ‘the AFL cares about concussions and high head contact’ after this.”
Ginnivan has become the poster boy for the AFL’s high-contact rule after dividing opinion with his penchant for taking free kicks inside his own forward 50 this season.
The AFL was forced to clarify its rules last week after a series of cases where Ginnivan was not awarded frees despite being tackled high, while other players were given frees for similar situations .
The league has made it clear that players who initiate high contact in an inbounds situation will not be awarded free throws.
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