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When I watched Jack Ginnivan celebrate Collingwood’s round 1 victory over St Kilda by performing an ode to influencer life – selfie stick inspired live camera with all-star cameo, pouting duck face, crowd interaction, outrageously confident self-talk, and way too much attention on the hair – I felt very awkward around the optics of a 19-year-old apprentice displaying an unseen level of freedom in celebration.
How would it be perceived by the football world?
Sure, I’ll admit, there was an enormous sense of jealousy that I never had hair as good as Jack Ginnivan – spikier and darker, absolutely, but gothic spiky hair went out the moment Adam Lambert became a mainstream goth thing, which coincided with the rise of Astro Boy as a pop culture demi-god through his evolution from anime pioneer to the western world, to sell-out movie star, which, in turn, completely neutralised the underground revolution of toilet brush hair ever really gathering momentum.
Silky and luscious is the dream for all genders, and perhaps, PERHAPS, that is why Kane Cornes went BANG at poor Jack Ginnivan?
Hair envy is real.
Magpies head coach Craig McRae and Jack Ginnivan of the Magpies celebrate with a selfie after beating St Kilda. (Photo by Quinn Rooney / Getty Images)
So, in the name of good times, let’s break down the VOLKANO’s whacking of Jack Givvinan.
“(Collingwood) finished 17th last year. You’ve beaten St Kilda, who no one expects will do anything this year, stop carrying on,” he said.
Response: Anyone else tip St Kilda? Gulp.
“That’s Jack Ginnivan, you’ve played six games. Just relax. Earn some respect in the game before you go on carrying on like that.”
This is totally fair from a 300-game superstar of the code who debuted in 2001 under the coaching guidance of Mark Williams – a coach who furiously sent the runner to Warren Tredrea after he celebrated a goal by taking a bow to the Preliminary Final crowd.
Humility or bust under the tutelage of Mark Williams.
The ‘earning of respect’ piece is difficult to navigate under the modern-day coaching philosophy of peace, love and harmony. Coaches are mentors, friends, confidantes. They no longer operate with fear being the sole deterrent for conformity to “the way”.
Example A: Justin Langer.
Individuals are embraced for their strengths, club psychologists demand it, which is why Adam Simpson recruits exclusively from private schools, because public school kids, from broken homes, are the devils spawn. It is imperative for a positive club culture that respect is no longer earned in the old-fashioned way of games played, tackles laid, blood spilt and whatever rookie year hazing rituals that were stolen from the NBA playbook.
You get respect in the modern day just by being on time. And that must be a great thing for the welfare of teenagers entering the ruthlessness of professional sport.
In theory, it is a magical system that has a huge push for equality and acceptance, everyone having a shared voice, and it is a system that can work well within the confines of a playing group with reach into the administration arm of that club.
The challenge? Respect might be immediate in your club environment, but it is not guaranteed by your opposition, their supporters, the broader football community, or old schoolers like Kane Cornes who had to tackle, bleed and be bullied to earn that respect just from their team-mates.
“You don’t see Geelong carrying on like that. You don’t see Richmond and dynasty teams carry on like that. Earn some respect before you start carrying on like that, saying it was ‘light work’ and ‘the first of many’. There’s a thing about winning in a humble way.”
I loved this quote because it is at the heart of why Kane didn’t like the optics, why I was surprised, why anyone who would classify themselves as old school would have found the media work of Collingwood, and teenage heart throb, Jack Givvinan, as way over the top and borderline disrespectful.
Geelong and Richmond dynasties? They were old!! They’re a different generation. Most of those premiership players would be from the same football environments as Kane Cornes. You earned respect through your actions, through your performance, not just by turning up. I guarantee they were all at home, watching, with their head in their hands bemoaning the way footy is changing.
Young Givvinan’s mob, Generation Z, is the best equipped collection of humans on the planet to navigate media and technology.
So, of course Jack was a master at utilising the angles of a live stream so he was always in shot, using the right angle to ensure the light bounced off his hair the right way, spoke confidently and into the camera, and was no doubt top of the board when Collingwood’s media team were working through which player would showcase their win in the opening round.
The kid was a natural.
Kane is right, though. Imagine your workplace if the apprentice or first year graduate took control of the socials and tagged the firm you’d beaten out of that huge contract with hashtags like #lightwork and #firstofmany. That isn’t ending well for anyone.
Us old schoolers simply aren’t going to survive this current iteration of society.
BRING BACK THE VHS!