Despite Collingwood recording a seventh consecutive win on Saturday with a 7-point victory over North Melbourne, discussion of the match has been dominated by young forward Jack Ginnivan.
The much maligned Magpie has drawn plenty of criticism in his short career for his ability to draw head high free kicks, but seemingly struggled to earn the umpires whistle on Saturday.
One incident in particular drew attention as the Pies faced a deficit in the third term of the clash, when Kangaroo Luke Davies-Uniacke tackled the young forward while Ginnivan seemingly leaned into the contact. Ginnivan was pinged for holding the ball, despite having earned a too high free kick in the first quarter of the contest for a similar incident.
Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd spoke on the incidents on Sunday, saying that he believes that umpires are unsure on how to officiate the 19-year-old.
“The big story for me was Jack Ginnivan and what they’re doing and not doing with him,” Lloyd said on Channel 9’s The Sunday Footy Show.
“I think they don’t know what to do because they realise – it’s like the Selwood shrug in a sense – they know what he’s doing every time but the umpires don’t know what to do: ‘Should we pay it or shouldn’t we?’”
Brisbane legend Jonathan Brown weighed in on Fox Footy's coverage, saying that players shouldn't be "ducking" in order to win free kicks.
“It’s not so much not in the spirit of the game, I just don’t want players’ ducking their head,” Brown said.
“The umpires are coached and advised during the game – they do talk about things that are happening. They obviously would have been made aware of that at half time that Ginnivan’s done it a couple of times in the first half. Be conscious of it.”
When asked post-game, Collingwood coach Craig McRae dismissed suggestions that Ginnivan, and the Pies, were instructed to earn head high free kicks by leaning into tackles.
“We don’t instruct our players to sort of lean into the tackle, but it’s a skill. I mentioned this five weeks ago… we haven’t changed our approach to this,” McRae said.
“It puts a lot of pressure on the tackler, obviously it’s putting a lot of pressure on the umpires as well.”
Collingwood have climbed into fifth position after a stunning run of form in the second half of the season, now looking primed for a finals campaign.
The Pies next face the Crows at Adelaide Oval, before matches against Essendon and Port Adelaide to round out the month.