Departing Collingwood after just weeks into his premiership with the Magpies, new Hawthorn recruit Jack Ginnivan joins a small club of players who have changed sides since coming out of the AFL.
Ginnivanand jumped to Waverley just 18 days after Collingwood’s thrilling four-point win over the Lions saw the wily small forward record seven disposals, four marks and three inside 50s.
While his move from Haraks may have been due to Collingwood and Fremantle acquiring marksman Lachie Schultz days before the trade deadline, the 20-year-old should reach exciting heights in brown and gold as he begins his next chapter with the team he supported.
Ginnivan became the first player in four years to leave a finals-winning team in the same year, with Tiger-turned-Sun Brandon Ellis the last AFL player to do so. After winning a second ticket with Richmond, Ellis joined the Gold Coast on free agency – a fresh start at Carrara after a successful eight years at Punt Road.
Ellisand#039; the move comes 12 months after champion Eagle Scott Lycett left West Coastand#039 to join Port Adelaide, also a free agent.
From 2013 to 2016, Lance Franklin (Hawthorn to Sydney, 2013), Matthew Suckling (Hawthorn to the Western Bulldogs, 2015) and Joel Hamling (Western Bulldogs to the Fremantle, 2016) also left the medal soon after. .
Since the turn of the century, following a successful season when Des Headland left Brisbane for Fremantle in late 2002, the club has traded a total of 10 players.
Port Adelaide premiership pair Josh Carr and Jarrad Schofield left the Power after the club’s 2004 AFL premiership to join Fremantle, while Geelong ruckman Steven King left the Cats after a drought-breaking finals win in 2007. According to AFL history and statistics consultant Col Hutchinson, AFL greats Ron Barassi (Melbourne 1964), Norm Smith (Melbourne 1948) and Alex Jesaulenko (Carlton 1979) would also leave premiership-winning teams.
Barassi won two premierships as Carlton coach after leaving Melbourne and others who left the premiership were often not too successful afterwards.
1999 North Melbourne premiership Cameron Mooney is the only player since the 1920s to win a premiership as a player who was immediately transferred from a finals-winning team.
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After moving to Kardinia Park for the 2000 season, Mooney played a role for Geelongand #039 in the 2007 and 2009 premierships, ending his career as a three-time premiership player.
Mooney is the only player since Cat Tom Fitzmaurice to become a Bomber in 1924 to have success elsewhere after leaving the majors in the same offseason. Fitzmaurice won a third straight flag in his first year at Geelong after winning a premiership with Essendon before his departure.
The trend does not look good for Ginnivan, despite the exciting path Hawthorn expects to follow in the coming years under senior coach Sam Mitchell.
Ellis could also try to catch up with his own premiership mentor Damien Hardwick, who is heading to Queensland to help guide the Suns to their first finals.
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