Collingwood senior coach Craig McRae has commented on the controversy surrounding a lack of free kicks awarded to Magpies small forward Jack Ginnivan during last Sunday's win over Hawthorn.
To the naked eye, it appeared as if the adjudicating umpires on Sunday afternoon were harsher towards Ginnivan, mostly refusing to blow their whistles in favour of the blonde-haired goal-sneak.
McRae appeared on Fox Footy's AFL 360 on Monday night and detailed his club's correspondence with AFL umpiring boss, Dan Richardson, as they sought clarification.
"[Pies GM] Graham Wright spoke to Dan Richardson," McRae revealed on 360.
"That's not unusual ... they contact the umpires throughout the year. We have umpires train with us regularly, weekly.
"We just got some clarity around [the Ginnivan decisions]. The conversation was around Jack's free kicks or not free kicks.
"They said that they'd missed a couple and [another] was unseen.
"It is what it is."
Ginnivan, now in the second year of his AFL career, has drawn comparisons to Bulldogs livewire Cody Weightman's knack for winning forward-half free-kicks.
McRae backed in his rising star forward's attack on the ball, encouraging him to continue playing the game the only way he knows how.
"We teach our players to take on the tackle … there's different forms of that," McRae said.
"I believe it's a skill to be able to get the ball, pick it up and drive into the tackle or use your arms to get over the tackler.
"I'd love him to continue to be as much just him as possible."
Ginnivan was charged $1000 by the AFL for misconduct against Hawthorn's Lachlan Bramble during the fourth quarter of the Pies' narrow victory.
