Ex-Tiger Jake Batchelor is feeling right at home at his new club Frankston DolphinsSimon McEvoy,
Frankston Standard Leader
10 Feb 2018...
Batchelor played almost all of the 2017 season in Richmond’s VFL side and felt it was his best season of football.
He said he played with freedom, “not scared to try something new and play with a bit of flair’’.
Many Richmond fans were disappointed when the club delisted him.
Batchelor knew it was coming, but it didn’t make it any easier when reality hit.
“Dima (coach Damien Hardwick) told me. I was just at the club and I was training and doing an off-season weights program and he asked me to come and meet with him,’’ Batchelor said.
“I was very close with (Tigers list manager) Blair Hartley and he was in the room as well which eased me a bit.
“But I’m a realist and I knew my time was up. I reckon I knew halfway through the year that I wasn’t going to get another contract. So it was hard. You can prepare for it as much as you like but when you hear the words, we’re going to go in a different direction, you can’t breath for about 10 seconds. It still gets you.
Batchelor remembers going out for lunch with teammates Nathan Drummond and Nick Vlastuin straight after being delisted.
“Nick Vlastuin was my best mate at the club. We both kind of knew throughout the year it was going to happen,’’ he said.
“Nathan Drummond is known as the tight arse of the club, he just wouldn’t spend a dollar on anyone or even on himself, besides basketball guernseys. He offered to pay for my lunch. Either he felt that bad or he thought I turned automatically poor because I just got delisted. That was quite funny how people react.’’
Batchelor says he’s be re-energised by the energy of the youngsters at Frankston. He is yet to be given a jumper number at the Dolphins, but is quite keen on 22 (he wore 11 at Richmond).
“I grew up with No 22 everywhere in local footy and I got it at Stingrays,’’ he said.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/localfooty/extiger-jake-batchelor-is-feeling-right-at-home-at-his-new-club-frankston-dolphins/news-story/c7f1c97e0a0db2c96fedec09514ca1d8