The AFL must do more to protect Jack Ginnivan

I’m sick of watching Jack Ginnivan’s treatment.

We are now two years after this embezzlement.

I’m going to pause briefly to let the floggings counter with such witty repartee as “He deserves it” and “He’s a jerk,” and all that juvenile condemnation that has no bearing on the reality of the situation.

How a kid in just his second season of senior football (last year) won an AFL target, and the constant persecution of commentators such as Anthony Hudson and Brian Taylor, when far better accredited players had plunged free for years, is beyond me.

Those in the AFL media who have scapegoated him should be ashamed. They won’t, because many of them feed on sensationalism and hyperbole. At least Kane Cornes, however criticized, backtracked on Ginnivan and then defended him, while Gerard Whateley was the only one to show genuine contrition.

Mason Redman nearly ripped Ginnivan’s head off in the Collingwood-Essendon Round 19 clash last year and then threw him to the ground, should have been the AFL line in the sand.

This was not the case.

AFL legend Leigh Matthews has opened up about how sick it made him to see the player unprotected. Twitterites condemned Matthews because, you know, he once punched Neville Bruns, like one thing had something to do with the other. And the AFL? Well, they defended the initial contact and said the slingshot should have been free.

I’m sick of this narrative that the AFL has perpetuated and that people buy into. I don’t dispute that Ginnivan – like other players – sometimes ducks. But that belief that when he’s on the move, picking up the ball and trying to accelerate clearly, leaning into a tackle to invite head-up contact is the biggest mistake there is.

When you step forward, leaning low, picking up the ball and trying to get clear, you are leaning forward. It’s physics.

But the AFL sold it was a duck.

Same with that arm shrug to throw a high tackle – so what’s the alternative? Do you carry the tackle? Or – as each the player would be expected to do – are you trying to get him up and break the opponent’s grip before he lands? Failure to do so would be abandonment. Yet the AFL sold you that lemon and you buy it and resell it yourselves. I also have swamps for sale, if you’re interested.

In Collingwood’s clash against Carlton, Ginnivan had his head ripped off from behind and always did not have a free. How could he dive into it, since he didn’t know it was going to happen? In the commentary, Tim Watson and Cameron Ling unequivocally cited it as a free kick. Brian Taylor was silent.

We see how seriously the AFL takes concussions. There are concussion tests whenever a player is hit in the head. If a player fails a concussion test, they effectively miss the next match (and cannot return until 12 days after impact).

There’s also this big new minefield the AFL is trying to navigate as former players explore whether the AFL is to blame for the long-term effects they suffered from concussions during their careers. in more turbulent times.

We do not link Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) to the AFL – players go out and run the risk of injury. But what the AFL is doing with Jack Ginnivan is sanctioning illegal contact with the opposition and allowing opponents not to attack Ginnivan, but to attack him – and his head – with impunity. It has now become a dangerous workplace. The AFL is not protect Ginnivan. This East an OHS problem.

The AFL better pray he never suffers a concussion(s) and if he does that he never has any lingering repercussions because I’m sure any court will find them guilty. You don’t let a kid get beat up for two years and think you can just get by. You are just an accomplice like those who make illegal tackles.

And with all that, we don’t even consider the issue of mental health. Ginnivan opened up about her mental health battles over the past year. You can see the kid has lost some of his spark. It would not be easy to enter the field knowing that the opponent has the right to belt you.

Although I admired the President of Collingwood, Jeff Browne, for not being on the front page is where I wouldn’t have bothered an explosive and abrasive personality like Eddie McGuire to take issue with what’s going on and shout out to the AFL and the refereeing fraternity.

Maybe that will only happen in the future – after Ginnivan has been knocked out of the game, and is retired and navigates chronic traumatic brain disease from all the blows to the head.

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Enjoy the lawsuit then, AFL, because when the existing mandate is to protect the head, when justifiable paranoia exists about protecting players not only from concussions in the here and now, but also in the long term, in terms of regards Ginnivan and how he is manipulated, you have failed miserably in your duty of care, and no fine interpretation of the rules will ever change that.

We’re seeing how more and more media personalities are getting outspoken – people who identify that it’s untrue.

For those like Hudson and Taylor who waged their crusades against Ginnivan, I hope you’re happy.

Today is Ginnivan.

Who’s next?

Because don’t think, don’t believe for a moment, there won’t be another player who will be victimized unless this is resolved NOW.