Coach’s blunt response to star’s pub antics

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says Jack Ginnivan’s pre-final pub dinner was “absolutely” a non-issue for him as the Hawks booked a semi-final spot on Friday night.

Ginnivan mimed cracking open a can of beer as he celebrated a final-quarter goal in the Hawks’ 37-point win over the Western Bulldogs, which came after he was snapped at a Richmond pub the night before.

Mitchell said he knew about Ginnivan’s Thursday evening plans and said he had no problem with the pub visit given the Hawks forward’s early bedtime.

The 21-year-old had 15 disposals at 93 per cent efficiency along with three goal assists in an assured performance on return to September after Collingwood’s 2023 flag.

“Absolutely (a non-issue). I didn’t ask, I probably should have: I wonder how many players went out for dinner to a public place last night? I would guess maybe half,” Mitchell said after the game.

“I think most of us have watched Friday night footy or watched Thursday night footy at a public venue for the majority of the year – (Ginnivan) played well, he lives how he lives, and I knew about it.

“As long as he went home around the halftime mark, then I was going to be pretty happy with what he’s doing – it’s no issue for me at all.”

First-year forwards Nick Watson (4.1) and Calsher Dear (3.4) helped bury the Bulldogs in outstanding finals debuts, which Mitchell said could have been helped along by the “naivety of youth”.

“I wonder if they just don’t know it’s a big deal, they don’t really know any different,” he said.

“But they’re enjoying their footy, and they’re playing with a high amount of energy.

“I thought Wiz (Watson) was a little bit off early, but he had a couple of chases, a couple of pressure (acts), he just got a fingernail on someone, and then a goal came.

“The stuff that we’ll show (in review) probably won’t be the goals, it’ll be the chasing and the pressure – I think that’s where we looked on song tonight.”

Mitchell said the Hawks’ resilience in front of the biggest crowd of his coaching career had thrilled him as they booked in a semi-final against Port Adelaide next Friday night.

“I thought we were quite mature. It’s the biggest crowd that certainly I’ve ever coached, and most of them would’ve ever played in front of, and the players just handled every aspect of the game pretty well,” he said.

“Even (Marcus) Bontempelli’s first five or eight minutes of the last quarter … I think everyone was saying ‘oh no’, and the fact that the players were able to handle things like that, I just thought we showed a level of maturity, which gives me a bit of confidence.

“We’ve got a Port Adelaide side who obviously would be disappointed with their performance from (Thursday) night, and we’re not too pleased with the last time we played them, so it’s going to be a great one.”

Mitchell said star midfielder Will Day’s availability was still an “unknown” heading into the clash.

The coach on Wednesday promised not to play “smoke and mirrors” with the reigning best and fairest’s fitness as he battles an SC joint injury near his collarbone.

“He’s running, but not doing any contact at this stage, so we’ll talk to the medical guys,” Mitchell said.

“Obviously he was pleased that we won, because it gives him a chance, doesn’t it? We’ll wait and see, we’ll have some training Sunday, Monday, Tuesday I think, so we’ll find out around that time.”

Fellow midfielder Cam Mackenzie could also mount a return bid after suffering a low-grade hamstring injury at training in the lead up to the game, but his replacement Josh Ward was superb with 22 disposals, nine tackles and five clearances.