Mitchell: Hawks players will handle Ginnivan

Jack Ginnivan was the igniter in two different forms as Hawthorn bounced back against the Western Bulldogs on Thursday night.

The 22-year-old put the nail in the coffin of the Dogs with 14 minutes left in the game, showing the ball in jest as he ran into an open goal to put the Hawks up by 27 points.

Mind you, Ginnivan performed well with 23 disposals and two goals, and that shouldn’t be overshadowed, but his actions late will attract the headlines.

After the game his match-winning teammate Mabior Chol, who kicked four goals, admitted he wasn’t a fan, but knows what Ginnivan is like so took it with a grain of salt.

“I wasn’t a fan of it to be honest,” Chol said on Fox Footy.

“But it’s Ginnivan, what can you do? It’s him, it’s his personality.

“I’m just kind of glad, he’s had a massive few weeks and hopefully he can carry that into next weekend.”

But Hawks coach Sam Mitchell wasn’t too perturbed by Ginnivan’s actions.

He loved his first goal celebration in the first quarter - an homage to Tottenham captain Son Heung-min’s camera shot - while speaking about how much the game has changed in recent years.

“His first goal celebration he looked straight at the coaches’ box and it was a Son Heung-min camera. My son is a big soccer fan, Tottenham have obviously won their first trophy for 17 years under Ange (Postecoglou) recently,” Mitchell said on SEN’s Fireball.

“So I was probably more interested in that one.

“It’s funny the way the game has changed. If you think about it a few years ago you would never have seen anything like it. Whether it’s Rory Lobb with a lobster in the back of his hair or blue hair last night.

“The game has changed in this manner. That’s what Jack does and we support him through that.”

Mitchell says the players can sort it out if they have taken issue with Ginnivan.

“‘Marbs’ (Chol) made me laugh when I saw his comments. I won’t be having a chat with him (Ginnivan), I’ll let the players handle that,” he continued.

“For mine, as long as it’s not disrespectful to the game or the other team or the fans, and if it’s disrespectful I’d kind of err to not enjoying it as much.”

Asked if he thinks Ginnivan’s actions were disrespectful or not, Mitchell replied: “I haven’t rewatched it. I don’t know the banter that was going on out there.

“He had a bit of a job on Bailey (Dale) at different stages. Making sure he kept a bit of an eye on him because he’s obviously a potent player. So you really need the context of it.

“But I won’t be bringing it up. It will be a cool story for you guys for the next 24 hours but that’s about it really.”

Ginnivan sparked his side to victory and was also the source of infuriation for others.

There was some feedback on broadcast and social media, and Ginnivan responded with what could only be seen as a cryptic message for the dinosaurs.

It’s a very interesting incident given how the Hawks blew up when Port Adelaide’s Willie Rioli did something similar back in Round 5.

But at the end of the day, the Hawks won by 22 points so they had the last laugh.

Sam Mitchell’s side, who had lost three on the trot, will next look to make it two wins in a row when they host Adelaide in Launceston next Friday night.