SAM MITCHELL gave him a clip after the first episode of the Titch & Ginni Show. Stop giving away our secrets was the message. But since then, Jack Ginnivan has continued to morph into an analyst every Monday afternoon at 3.30. He just reveals less about Hawthorn. 

That's where Tom Mitchell comes in. The 2018 Brownlow Medallist, who founded Ball Magnets in 2021 and has transformed it into a podcast network, plays the role as bad cop more when the two sit on matching moss green couches weekly in a boutique studio in Collingwood.

There is a 10-year age gap between the pair, but they have a bond for life as premiership teammates. Former players have been dabbling in punditry since the invention of television, but seldom has the craft been bigger globally than right now with the likes of Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville in the UK, and Charles Barkley and Tony Romo in the US.

But a current player, breaking down vision, identifying trends, explaining why something is working – or not working – on a weekly basis is unusual in our game. That's why AFL.com.au went to Pivotal Conversations this week to watch the recording up close.

Unlike almost everyone on radio and TV, Ginnivan sits there with no notes or a rundown and reels of countless statistics, rankings and anecdotes off the top of his head for the next half an hour. He compares Chad Warner's brilliant performance against Brisbane to Josh Kennedy's 2016 Grand Final: "It was a throwback to when JPK had 35 and 3 in 2016. No one talks about it because they lost". Ginnivan was 13 when that game happened, but he certainly hasn't forgotten. 

Nor has he forgotten that he declared three years ago that Nick Daicos will be the best player of all time. "Can someone find the audio?" He has been doing his own Brownlow predictor and thinks the Collingwood superstar is nine votes clear after round 16. Zak Butters is next up and Ginnivan is across his game ratings for 2026: "1,1,1,2,1,1,3,1,1,1,2,1,2,1,1 … I've never heard of that ever". 

Essendon's ball movement out of the back half is forensically examined. Then vision of Luke Ryan (who Ginnivan said on the previous episode was the Fremantle player he'd love to have a beer with most) is shown of the veteran defender outworking multiple Gold Coast opponents late, even when the game is over. 

Harry Himmelberg obviously heard the discussion last week because he came up to him after the game last Friday night and suggested a drink in the off-season. There are entertaining nuggets every other minute. So why is Ginnivan, who isn't a veteran fretting about his football mortality, putting himself out there like this right now?

"I think, ultimately, it's just to upskill myself for when football finishes. You know if I could get an opportunity on Channel Seven or Fox Footy when I'm older, I feel like this would be a great avenue to lead to do that by upskilling and having conversations like this and talking about football and breaking it down, it's just a bit of a no brainer for me," Ginnivan tells AFL.com.au.

Ginnivan grew up a devout footy head. He devoured as much as he could back home in Castlemaine. He cut back on his consumption when he was drafted and became a box office star, but has tuned back in a lot more this year since starting the podcast. Dale Thomas' work on Triple M and Channel 7 stands out to him, while he also rates how David King and Kane Cornes go about the business.

"I like Kingy's stuff. Obviously Kane. I love Daisy Thomas as well. I just love people who are really authentic and have strong views," Ginnivan says.

"I feel like that would be something (I'd like to do in the future). I can't do it at the moment with just how the footy landscape is, where you probably can't be too critical of teams, players and stuff, but it's something that I would like to do.

"If the player's playing well pump them up; if something's not going right just have really just honest opinions. I think they're the ones that catch me."

Ginnivan has grown up since his shock move from the Magpies in the weeks after the 2023 premiership. He was only 20 back then, but had to deal with the shock rise from anonymous rookie pick to a premiership player after a breakout 2022 campaign playing for the biggest club in the country. It was a lot.

Maturity has allowed him to sit here in front of a microphone every Monday afternoon and develop himself, just like he has done as a footballer. Ginnivan has played 62 games for Hawthorn and is almost three years into his initial four-year deal at Hawthorn. Last year he finished fifth in the Peter Crimmins Medal, while this year he has continued his evolution further away from goal, averaging 19.9 disposals and 4.7 inside 50s to go with 19 goal assists (No.4 in the AFL). 

"I've grown up a lot since then," he says. "I wasn't a good player at Collingwood. I was half the player I am now back then; everything I do – training, diet, health, how I look after myself – is completely different to what it was at Collingwood. Collingwood looked after me, but I'm just a completely different player and person since I've left that club."

Mitchell knew Ginnivan had the brains and the footy IQ before they started doing this. He saw it up close at Collingwood. He thinks his co-host has a bright future in the media and has been thrilled to provide a platform to showcase Ginnivan's ability to analyse the game and provide a player’s perspective.

"He's always been super smart. I think that's been super cool to uncover that side of him, which a lot of people that are close to him know how smart he is, but I don't think people externally knew that," Mitchell says.

"I think that's backed up by how many people are pointing it out, whether it be this show or whatever, because we've uncovered that hopefully. I'm sure that'll lead to plenty of opportunities for 'Ginni' with whatever he wants to do; I know he'd be a great coach; he'd be good in the media. He's charismatic, smart. So it's been fun to do it with a good mate. But also put some quality stuff out there."

The podcast landscape has exploded in the past decade. Everyone has one now, including many recently retired players. Dylan Buckley (Clubby Sports Network), Dan Gorringe (Dan Does Footy) and Tommy Sheridan (Ausmerican Aces) have built huge audiences around entertaining content, become better known for that than their playing careers. Mitchell has developed his podcast from a passion project to a soft-landing spot straight out of the game. 

"It wasn't a thing when I first got drafted. I'd never heard of what a podcast was back then. I guess they've become pretty popular. When I first started doing it, it was purely out of passion and enjoying chatting to other athletes and finding what makes them tick and probably using that to grow personally by picking other peoples brains to where I could grow," he said.

"It's something that I love and I'm glad I found that while I was playing footy, because ultimately it comes to an end one day and it creeps up on you, so to have something else I love to do other than footy has been pretty good to make the transition smooth."

The podcast takes up less of Ginnivan's week than the hat he is wearing. Earlier this year, he launched 'Osck' with his best mate Oscar Perez. The first two drops have sold out. There are plans for plenty more, and to build the brand from being based out of his house in Richmond to a point where they need an office, a warehouse and more staff. 

"It initially just started with my best mate making hats, some prototypes, and then eventually came into something. Now done two drops and it's done really well, which has been cool. We're just continuing to get better and my mate's going to China; I want to go to China at the end of the year and learn more about the fabrics and all that sort of stuff. It's been something that's kept me ticking along outside of football. Obviously I've got this. I've got that stuff and got plenty of things going on outside of footy. But yeah, it's one of my favourite things to do with my best mate."

Ginnivan is busy, and likes it that way. "Yeah, it's hectic," he said, "but I love that in my life. It's always been something I want to do, to always keep busy. When you're doing stuff you love, it's never a chore, it's always a pleasure."

Sam Mitchell is still listening, usually via Hawthorn's GM of Media and Corporate Affairs Matthew Dixon, but the coach is no longer intervening. Like he said in March, Ginnivan has the footy IQ to stay in the game when he hangs up his boots. Will it be in coaching or the media? We will have to keep tuning in to find out.