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After a great review of Brent Harvey last week, I've decided to eschew the obvious candidates in the Hawthorn forwardline (although Rioli came close..) and go for another small, super-quick midfield type and nominate Chance 'Changa' Bateman as the player the Dogs need to most shut down this weekend to win the game.
CHANCE BATEMAN
Personal information
Birth 21 June 1981(1981-06-21), Perth, Western Australia
Recruited from Perth (WAFL)
Height and weight 174cm / 78kg
Playing career
Debut 2000, Hawthorn vs. Brisbane Lions, at MCG
Team(s) Hawthorn (2000-)
99 games, 30 goals
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However, instead of focusing on the obvious ie. the fact that he is a hard running, break the lines type player who will tear up the Dogs if he is not kept away from the ball, that he is the player (apart from Dew) that the other mostly one-paced Hawthorn midfield players most prefer to deliver the ball into their dynamic forwardline, that if he is shut down the supply of quality ball to your Franklins and Rougheads dries up dramatically, that he is averaging 23 touches, 3.5 tackles and 6 inside-50s a game in career best form, and that he, like the rest of the Hawthorn midfield, rarely scores (Chance, their most attacking midfielder, has 2 goals this year)... instead of focusing on all that, I would like us to look, most of all, at his hair.
WHAT A MOP!
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Ps. We just have to shut the bloke down with a run-with. Callan could actually do this job, as Bateman is not quite Harvey in terms of pure skill but he is a bit more in and under than Boomer and Callan could match his physicality and beat him overhead. The stats tell us that the Hawks score almost exclusively through their front men, and they are incredibly inefficient in front of goal ie. they need a lot of chances to post a score (almost the exact opposite of the Dogs forwardline this year, really). Because their midfield has been good at getting the ball into their forward 50, they HAVE been getting many chances to score. Cut this down, and their score drops dramatically. If we break even in forward 50 entries, the Dogs will win. Stopping Chance will go a long way to making this happen.
Finally, check out Chance in this rolling love-in with an Irish player during an International Rules series. In and under!
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The human side of football:
Chance's 15-year old sister Candy was killed when she slipped under a train in 2001. I'm sure WOOF's hearts and prayers go out to his family.
CHANCE BATEMAN
Personal information
Birth 21 June 1981(1981-06-21), Perth, Western Australia
Recruited from Perth (WAFL)
Height and weight 174cm / 78kg
Playing career
Debut 2000, Hawthorn vs. Brisbane Lions, at MCG
Team(s) Hawthorn (2000-)
99 games, 30 goals
---
However, instead of focusing on the obvious ie. the fact that he is a hard running, break the lines type player who will tear up the Dogs if he is not kept away from the ball, that he is the player (apart from Dew) that the other mostly one-paced Hawthorn midfield players most prefer to deliver the ball into their dynamic forwardline, that if he is shut down the supply of quality ball to your Franklins and Rougheads dries up dramatically, that he is averaging 23 touches, 3.5 tackles and 6 inside-50s a game in career best form, and that he, like the rest of the Hawthorn midfield, rarely scores (Chance, their most attacking midfielder, has 2 goals this year)... instead of focusing on all that, I would like us to look, most of all, at his hair.
WHAT A MOP!
---
Ps. We just have to shut the bloke down with a run-with. Callan could actually do this job, as Bateman is not quite Harvey in terms of pure skill but he is a bit more in and under than Boomer and Callan could match his physicality and beat him overhead. The stats tell us that the Hawks score almost exclusively through their front men, and they are incredibly inefficient in front of goal ie. they need a lot of chances to post a score (almost the exact opposite of the Dogs forwardline this year, really). Because their midfield has been good at getting the ball into their forward 50, they HAVE been getting many chances to score. Cut this down, and their score drops dramatically. If we break even in forward 50 entries, the Dogs will win. Stopping Chance will go a long way to making this happen.
Finally, check out Chance in this rolling love-in with an Irish player during an International Rules series. In and under!
---
The human side of football:
Chance's 15-year old sister Candy was killed when she slipped under a train in 2001. I'm sure WOOF's hearts and prayers go out to his family.
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