Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has hailed Jack Ginnivan's growth as a footballer after the energetic livewire led a 66-point rout of Collingwood which leaves the reigning premiers' flag defence hanging by a thread.
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Ginnivan starred against his former club on return from two weeks out with a hairline fracture of his fibula in the Hawks' dominant 20.13 (133) to 9.13 (67) victory on Saturday at a rain-drenched MCG.
The 21-year-old, who featured in the Magpies' flag-winning side last year, amassed career-high tallies of 31 disposals and four clearances in the best of his 58 games to date.
He also kicked two goals, sparking wild celebrations when he struck in the third and fourth quarters as Hawthorn ran rampant in front of 74,171 fans and gave their finals hopes a massive boost in the process.
"Ginni is one of those players that the crowd love and the media loves to talk about ... but in our preparation we didn't make much of him," Hawks coach Mitchell said post-game.
"We look more at what he does for us as a side.
"We know that he's been an important player for us across the year and we've missed him the last couple of weeks.
"To get him back, we knew it would bring a lot of energy and the sense of theatre of the game was fantastic.
"But for us it was really important that he played his role and did his job, and he did more than that."
Ginnivan was jeered by a portion of Collingwood fans throughout the day but produced the perfect response.
"If you think about how long it feels like he's been around - how many times he's been on the back page or there's been a story about him - he seems like he's much older," Mitchell said.
"But he's 21 years old, so he's still maturing, still growing into his footy and still learning how to handle different opposition and situations and roles.
"It's all come off the back of an enormous work ethic and a desire to prove that he can be a fantastic and well-rounded player and not a flash in the pan.
"To his credit, two-thirds of the way through his first season with us he's doing a lot right."
Ginnivan shone in an irresistible team performance from Hawthorn, with Conor Nash (29 disposals, eight clearances), Jai Newcombe (25, six), Will Day (26, five) and James Worpel (28, five) all strong contributors.
Connor MacDonald kicked a career-high four goals as Luke Breust (four) and Nick Watson (three) also added multiple majors.
Versatile Hawks pair James Sicily and Blake Hardwick held firm in defence against an inaccurate Collingwood attack.
Hawthorn's seventh win from their past eight games put them within touching distance of the top eight, boasting a 10-8 record - after a 0-5 start to the year - ahead of an away clash with Adelaide.
Collingwood (8-8-2) have lost four consecutive games and are in serious danger of slipping out of contention after the heaviest defeat of premiership coach Craig McRae's three seasons in charge.
The Magpies had few winners, with Nick Daicos (24 disposals, six clearances) and Jack Crisp (22, six) fighting against the tide in the middle.
Steele Sidebottom and Bobby Hill kicked two goals each, while Dan McStay finished with 1.2 from eight touches in his first game back from a long-term knee injury.
"I felt they played the conditions way better than us early," McRae said.
"We tried to play an open-field game when clearly it was a contest and territory game.
"We tried to address that at halftime.
"They were fantastic around the ball, the Hawks, and outnumbered us often and broke our tackles easily.
"That is not a representation of us. That was pretty ugly at times."
Australian Associated Press
