West Coast’s hard-nosed midfielder Reuben Ginbey is the Round 3 Rising Star nominee after a fine start to his debut season.
Quite incredibly, Ginbey is West Coast’s first rising star nominee since Oscar Allen in 2019; but while the Eagles have more money than the Sultan of Brunei, even that can’t prevent the years of pain they have ahead of them as they seek to adress the serious imbalances in their list.
Ginbey hails from Dunsborough in south-west Western Australia, but boarded at Wesley College, whom he captained in the local PSA competition, and played in the WAFL with the East Perth Royals.
At the Royals he played mainly as a defender, but was used as a midfielder during the National Championships, and leapfrogged some of his more fancied teammates to be named Western Australia’s player of the carnival.
Ginbey’s size – he’s nearly 190 centimetres and comfortably fits the ‘big-bodied midfielder’ prototype – meant recruiters and draft watchers sat up and took notice when he averaged over 20 disposals per game in the Championships. He then ran a 52-second 400m at the PSA athletics carnival in September they were out of their seats, and ruly blew them away with top-ten results in the vertical jump, 2km time trial and 20m sprint at the Draft Combine.
For a ‘big-bodied midfielder’ it was clear his athletic capacity was amongst the absolute elite of the draft crop.
Reuben Ginbey of the Eagles. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
The Eagles selected the hometown boy with pick eight on draft night, having received that pick – along with number 12 – in a trade for the number two selection. There will forever be queries on the wisdom of that trade, especially given the lightning start to North Melbourne young gun Harry Sheezel’s career, but the ‘go home’ risk factor has multiplied in recent years (probably since the COVD-impacted seasons), and West Coast took a safer route with their top picks, where they have ended up with two very talented local boys in Ginbey and Elijah Hewett. The proof will, of course, be in the pudding.
In his short career at AFL level Ginbey has shown himself to have a real appetite for the contest, regularly attending centre bounces and laying more tackles than any other player in the competition to this point (26).
He has a booming left boot, but has shown a greater propensity to handpass both at underage and AFL level so far; hopefully that balance will shift a little as he develops his midfield craft and has more confidence to back his athleticism. There are also some question marks over his disposal in general, but a look at his highlights from East Perth and Western Australia show it to be effective – especially in the 30 to 40-metre range.
Chances of winning the Rising Star
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say they are basically nil. Not because he isn’t very talented, but because big-bodied tackling machines inevitably lose their media lustre over the course of the season (see Jai Newcombe last year).
Tim Gossage will do his best, more than likely suggesting a Victorian bias, but it will be to no avail even as he has more opportunities forced upon him due to the Eagles’ injury crisis.
Plays Like
Ginbey has said that he bases his game on Collingwood’s Jack Crisp, who has a remarkably similar body shape as well as also being a left footer. It is a relatively apt comparison.
Ceiling
At present, Ginbey doesn’t appear to have the same natural ball-winning capabilities that the elite midfielders of the competition have, but if his athletic gifts can be utilised and he can win more ball in transition rather than congestion, then he could easily develop into one of the very best players in the competition.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.
The Collingwood member has been suspended for the rest of the season by the AFL after touching West Coast player Harvey Johnston during the…
Apart from one five-goal game, GWS forward Toby Greene has only kicked six goals from the other eight games. He's traditionally had success against the Western Bulldogs.
Bayley Fritsch should become an even more important player from a structural perspective, given key forward Jacob van Rooyen will be unavailable due to concussion.
Tom Hawkins returns to familiar surroundings of Geelong - but is it the tonic he needs to regain some of his confidence back after a goalless four games.
Jeremy Finlayson should be a welcome addition to the Port Adelaide forward line after kicking four goals in the SANFL last week.
Brisbane's players will take inspiration from the stoicism of Lincoln McCarthy and Darcy Gardiner as they faced their season-ending knee injuries. The Lions confirmed…
