Collingwood coach Craig McRae has shut down suggestions that his players have any ill will towards forward small forward Jack Ginnivan, despite the new Hawk insisting the club shut the door on him.
Ginnivan abruptly departed Collingwood for Hawthorn after the Pies’ 2023 premiership triumph, now indicating that none of his former teammates reached out when he requested a trade to convince him to stay in the black and white.
The 21-year-old spoke openly about the heartbreak he experienced when none of his premiership teammates called or messaged when news began to swirl over a possible move to his childhood club, Hawthorn.
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“I have one year there (Collingwood) and no one has reached out wanting me to stay,” Ginnivan said on the Tommy Talks podcast earlier in the week.
“And I have Hawthorn – where I have had 10 players message me saying ‘come to the Hawks’.”
The small forward, who has played in all of the Hawks’ first three matches of the 2024 season, declared he was shocked and offended that no one fought for him to stay.
“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,” Ginnivan said.
He played 42 games and kicked 58 goals for the Pies during 2021 to 2023.
Ginnivan’s comments come on the eve of the Pies’ clash with the Hawks, with Collingwood’s coach McRae quick to rebuff Ginnivan’s harsh suggestions.
“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 quizzed on why no Pies figures reached out to Ginnivan during his tumultuous departure, McRae offered up 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 take on Hawthorn at Adelaide Oval on Sunday evening.
