Jack Ginnivan looms as the likely substitute for Collingwood in Saturday’s Grand Final against Brisbane at the MCG.
Ginnivan has been the 23rd man in both of Collingwood’s finals so far and is expected to hold that position for the decider.
The small forward was injected into last Friday’s Preliminary Final win over GWS at three-quarter time and ended up collecting seven disposals in the final quarter.
Essendon great Tim Watson thinks the 20-year-old is a fascinating player as he doesn’t stand out physically but seems to constantly find himself in the right positions.
“I haven't spoken about this in great detail,” Watson said on SEN Breakfast.
“Jack Ginnivan, I think is a fascinating player.
“Look at the sum of him, like he's not big, he doesn't look particularly quick, he doesn't look particularly strong.
“But he's one of those guys who just gets himself in the right position at the right time, even after three-quarter time when he came on, he had seven disposals in that last quarter.
“He went on the ball and looked dangerous anywhere near the ball.”
While Watson likes what Ginnivan brings to the table, he pondered whether his lack of game time in recent weeks could hurt the side if he was forced to play close to four quarters.
Even though Watson is certain Collingwood has been getting work into Ginnivan to make up for his lack of time on-field, he believes it’s a risk to continue selecting him as the sub.
“But the fact is he's played 45 minutes now in the two finals,” Watson said.
“Collingwood have only played two games in five weeks or whatever.
“I know they'll be doing other training, that type of thing.
“It’s really warm out there on Saturday as we've already discussed.
“Do you play him as the sub? There’s a big risk factor associated with that too because you've got somebody that's not really primed in terms of preparation apart from the other training he would have been doing, and I know they would have been getting that into him as well.
“But, say they get an injury very early in the game, you don't have the luxury of now deciding, ‘Ok, we're going to bring you on three-quarter time’.
“You’ve got to bring him on the three-minute mark of the first quarter.”
Breakfast co-host Garry Lyon expects the Magpies to take into consideration how much Ginnivan has played but he thinks the youngster looms as an ideal Grand Final sub.
“I think they'll take all that into account and they must be confident that he can play if they do lose one in the opening minute,” Lyon said.
“So, they just have to roll the dice on that.
“He's an energizer bunny. He gives them a lift, the crowd gets involved.
“I think he's a great sub.”
Collingwood will name their starting 22 at 6:20 pm (AEST) on Thursday. The club will also announce their starting substitute separately at the same time.
The bounce for Saturday’s Grand Final is set for 2:30 pm (AEST).