Jack Ginnivan move backfires on Collingwood as eye-opening AFL numbers come to light
The Magpies' decision to part ways with Ginnivan hasn't exactly worked out.
Damning statistics from the 2023 AFL season have highlighted how Collingwood's decision to trade away Jack Ginnivan and get Lachie Schultz has backfired. The Magpies decided to part ways with Ginnivan at the end of last season, sending him to Hawthorn.
To fill the void, Collingwood sent pick 34 plus their future first-round pick to Fremantle in exchange for Schultz. But with the Magpies languishing in 12th place on the AFL ladder heading into Round 18, the trade appears to have blown up in their faces.
As it stands, the Dockers would get pick No.7 in this year's draft - a much higher spot than many would have expected at the time of the trade. And the numbers that Schultz has produced haven't really vindicated sending Ginnivan to the Hawks either.
This season, Schultz is averaging 11.3 disposals per game, 1.5 marks inside 50, 1.3 goals, 0.5 score assists, 4.8 score involvements, 3.87 tackles and 18.1 pressure acts. Ginnivan is ahead in most of those categories, with 16 disposals, 1.3 marks inside 50, 1.1 goals, 5.5 score involvements, 2.53 tackles and 15.5 pressure acts.
Schultz currently has an overall player rating of 6.85 compared to Ginnivan's 5.98, but the Magpies would have been expecting a lot more. “The trade that they made to get Lachie Schultz in, which I supported at the time, I felt this was going be an excellent recruit,” Kane Cornes said on 'Footy Classified' on Channel 9 on Monday night.
“But you look at it six months down the track, you go, well this has been a disaster really. And they let Ginnivan go. Ginnivan’s about to turn 22 at the end of the year, Schultz is going to be 27, and Ginnivan is producing far greater impact in pretty much every stat ... he’s been a far more impactful player.”
Collingwood received pick 33 plus future second and third-round picks from Hawthorn, while the Hawks got Ginnivan, pick 39 and future second and fourth-round picks. But because the Magpies have slid down the ladder they are currently worse off with their picks compared to when they still had Ginnivan.
“The most concerning thing is you gave away pick 7 as it sits right now. That’s what we’ve got to go on, and they’ve got a tough draw and all of that,” Cornes said. “So you’ve traded your future first for a player who is basically delivering what you had with another player, who you gave away for pretty much nothing, and you’ve also given away that great pick inside the top 10 as it sits - which they desperately need.”
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But the stats around Ginnivan and Schultz don't tell the whole story. Ginnivan fell out with Magpies coach Craig McRae at the end of 2023, and has moved to a completely different system that allows him more freedom at Hawthorn.
"Collingwood is a very structured system and it’s very hard to be a forward at Collingwood,” Ginnivan said in May. "Sometimes there were a few dark days where you’re wearing the invisible cloak.
"At Hawthorn, which has been so great for me, you’re allowed to be free and you can go and change over patterns and stuff - whereas at Collingwood you were stuck on one side and things like that. It’s been great to be able to roam free and be able to touch the ball more because I feel like when I touch the ball it can work really well for me.”
