Caroline Wilson declares Jack Ginnivan antics 'cost Hawthorn a win', as Jeff Kennett bites back
Former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett has hit back after Caroline Wilson declared that Jack Ginnivan's social media antics cost his side a preliminary final berth.
Ginnivan controversially commented on Swans ruckman Brodie Grundy's Instagram last week, stating, "See u in 14 days".
However, the Hawks did not reach that preliminary final against the Swans, going down to Port Adelaide by three points on Friday night.
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Wilson declared it was Ginnivan's antics that rocked the Hawks off their podium.
"Hawthorn lost a game that they could have well have won. And you take any edge you can in a final," Wilson said on 3AW radio on Saturday.
Jack Ginnivan's comment on Brodie Grundy's Instagram. Getty
And she didn't hold back in analysing just how negative an impact the small forward's behaviour had on his team.
"I would go as far as to argue he's cost Hawthorn a win, Jack Ginnivan, by what he did what that taunt last week," she said.
"I would go even further to say, Hawthorn could have won the premiership.
"What Jack Ginnivan did is just so against, for me, what a club or a player should do.
Jeff Kennett and Caroline Wilson were part of a heated debated regarding his exit as Hawthorn president in 2022. Nine
"Externally, stick up for Jack Ginnivan. Internally, I hope that somebody has explained, 'Jack, read the room'."
The comments sent Kennett into a spin.
"Why is Caroline Wilson such a one trip (trick) pony?," Kennett said on X on Saturday.
"She is only about controversy. To say Jack Ginnivan cost Hawthorn the game last night is factually incorrect. Had PA (Port Adelaide) kicked straight in the first quarter they could have been up 6 goals.
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"Our players hit the goal post twice. Had one been a goal HFC (Hawthorn) might have won. We did not."
Kennett, who was Hawthorn president across two stints (2005–2011, 2018–2021) defended Ginnivan and denied his social media comment made a difference in the dying stages of the match.
"Ginnivan comments did not affect our last few minutes. In the same way Caroline Wilson started the campaign against Hawthorn re its relationship with its indigenous players. Selective reporting," he said.
The social media spat follows the pair going head-to-head earlier this year on Nine's Footy Classified, where WIlson grilled Kennett's mismanagement of former coach Alastair Clarkson's exit.
Tempers flare between Jason Horne-Francis and Jack Ginnivan. AFL Photos via Getty Images
Wilson pressed Kennett on whether he regretted the way the situation was handled, and if the "relationship split" with Clarkson still weighs on his mind.
"No. What do you mean a 'relationship split'? The fact that we decided to have a new coach?," Kennett said on Nine's Footy Classified in July.
But Wilson was quick to correct where the supposed breakdown between the former coach and president has occurred.
Hawks skipper James Sicily reflects after his side's loss to Port Adelaide. AFL Photos via Getty Images
"No, the fact that Alastair now won't attend official reunions at the club," Wilson said.
"He's gone to private reunions with his players, but we won't attend official reunions.
"He left the club in acrimony."
Kennett disagreed at the time.
