Jack Ginnican Learned a Lesson

A short follow-up to my post about Jack Ginnivan a couple of weeks ago.

Yesterday's airport arrival in Adelaide offers some cool insights into crisis communications evolution where actions and visuals tell a better story than the spoken word ever could.

Ginnivan returns to Adelaide for the semi-final, gets swarmed by media at the airport again, but this time, he handles it very differently.

Headphones on, stays silent, but then pulls out his phone to film the media circus himself and posts it on Instagram with "me Tn". He essentially turned the tables and making the media scrum the spectacle rather than himself. What's brilliant about this approach is that he has learned to control the narrative without saying a word.

The teal Port Adelaide socks is genius. A subtle dig at Adelaide through their crosstown rivals. It shows he's still being provocative, but in a calculated way that doesn't result in embarrassment or fines.

Sometimes the solution isn't suppressing the personality, it's channelling it more strategically. Ginnivan is still being himself - confident, a bit cheeky, unafraid of controversy - but he's doing it in ways that serve him rather than sabotage him.

Most importantly, this shows fresh thinking and strategy. Three weeks ago, Ginnivan was making reactive comments. Now he's turning media attention on its head while staying focused on his job.

The real lesson here is effective crisis communications isn't always about perfect behaviour. Sometimes it's about helping people be authentically themselves in smarter ways. Ginnivan hasn't become a different person, but he's learned to use his personality as an asset rather than a liability.

What do you think? Is this genuine growth or just better tactical thinking in the moment?