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“This can’t be easy for the umpires,” said Schwab, who did not wish to be critical of umpires, but noted there that Ginnivan had received 21 frees in 2022, his breakout season, and then just four in 2023 at Collingwood, whom the small forward faces for the first time on Sunday.

“I just think there’s this subconscious bias in there (towards Ginnivan).”

Referring to the huge drop in Ginnivan’s frees for too high from 2022 to 2023 at Collingwood, Schwab suggested the umpires might have felt they were “fooled” by the small forward. “If they think they’re being fooled, they probably won’t pay it.”

Schwab said Ginnivan was trying to gain possession of the football in most examples he saw, rather than ducking his head when he had the ball or driving his head into a tackler. “If he’s got possession of the football and he’s electing to put his head down into the player (it’s not a free).

“They’ve got to do everything on its merits ... if he’s playing trying to win the footy and gets taken high, he should be rewarded.”

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The frees that Ginnivan did not receive were a major talking point from Hawthorn’s loss to the Cats on Monday, when Ginnivan booted 1.1 from 11 disposals, in his fourth outing for his new team after he was traded by the Magpies following their 2023 premiership, the Pies having been disappointed that the small forward went to the races on the night before the grand final.

Schwab said Ginnivan’s propensity to be low to the ground - which makes it harder for the tackler to avoid high contact - was “because he’s a small player”.

Schwab said former Geelong champion Joel Selwood - who drew numerous frees for high contact during his career - had pursued the ball first. “The bottom line is Joel was still going hard after the footy and he was definitely contacted high.”

The former Hawks coach acknowledged he had watched Ginnivan more closely this year as a Hawthorn player. Schwab returned to Hawthorn for a coaching director/mentor role for the 2022 season, but is no longer officially involved with his old club.

He said the umpiring of high contact was “generally not a difficult area” to judge for the umpires, despite Ginnivan’s issues, whereas “prior opportunity, holding the ball is so hard to umpire ... that is, at the moment, the hardest area of the game.”

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