Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has dismissed former teammate Luke Hodge's assertion Jack Ginnivan's recent social media activity could spur Port Adelaide in their AFL semi-final clash.
Hodge felt Ginnivan went too far in his by-play with ex-Collingwood teammate Brodie Grundy when he responded to a post with a public "see you in 14 days" response.
It was a reference to a possible preliminary final meeting between Grundy's Sydney Swans and the Hawks, who must beat the Power at Adelaide Oval on Friday night to advance.
"One thing you don’t do is give ammunition to the opposition," Hodge said on SEN radio.
"He's having a bit of a joke, he played two years with Grundy at Collingwood, so they know each other and it's probably a bit of banter.
"But what you do is you send banter in a text message, you don’t put it out in the open for Port Adelaide to sit there and go, 'Let's use this and get stuck into Ginnivan'."
Ginnivan's post came a few days after he raised eyebrows by going out for dinner at a popular Richmond pub the night before the Hawks' elimination final win over the Western Bulldogs.
Mitchell had no issue with Ginnivan's pub trip and wasn't overly concerned by the social media post.
"Hodgey's obviously from my old-school days," Mitchell said on Wednesday when asked about his four-time premiership teammate's comments.
"I heard his comments and I know that he's just trying to spur on the Hawks as he goes for us this week.
"I'm not sure about motivating Port Adelaide. They've got their season on the line the same way we do.
"We're going into a knockout final and I think both teams are going to be as highly motivated as you could possibly hope for.
"I don't buy into too many things outside that."
Mitchell has made a big selection call, picking Jai Serong as a replacement for experienced key defender Sam Frost, who has been ruled out for the rest of the finals series with a foot injury.
The 21-year-old has played just nine senior games, including four this season, and last appeared at AFL level in the round-10 defeat to Port Adelaide.
Serong's selection is reward for his outstanding form across 13 VFL matches this season.
"While it is disappointing for Sam (Frost) to miss Friday night's game, we know Jai has been knocking on the door for a number of weeks now with his fantastic form in the VFL," Hawks football boss Rob McCartney said.
"It's pleasing to see him get another opportunity to showcase his weapons at the AFL level and we know he will take it with both hands."
