Ex-Stingray relishes the highs with TigersBy Roy Ward
Greater Dandenong Weekly
14 Nov, 2011TRUE glory is hard to come by in an AFL rookie season.
There are plenty of highs and just as many lows but short of the rare feat of a rookie-year premiership a player needs to look to smaller successes.
Richmond midfielder Jake Batchelor had his best experience early in the Tigers' 2011 season when he played in his first win for the yellow and black.
The former Dandenong Stingrays skipper said singing the club song for the first time was a special albeit a little disgusting experience.
"You come out looking like you just jumped in the pool," he joked. "You get about five litres of Powerade thrown over you, you stink but it's a great feeling especially to yell out 'Yellow and black' at the end of the Tigers song."
The 19 year old was taken at pick 30 in last year's AFL draft and went on to play 16 games for the Tigers this past season.
He said playing for one of the league's biggest clubs was exciting, especially in the big games like the annual Dreamtime at the 'G game between the Tigers and Essendon.
"The roar that goes up when the siren sounds at the start, it's surreal," he said. "I was used to playing in front of a few hundred people for the Stingrays. then we were playing in front of 83,000 people or so at the Dreamtime game.
"You can block it out while you are playing but it's pretty special when you get those big roars when we do something good. It reminds you the supporters are there to watch us succeed."
Batchelor happened to play one of his best games for the season in that match, scoring the AFL's weekly rising star nomination which netted him a monetary reward but more importantly much-needed confidence.
"You need a little confidence in your ability so you can to do things in games," he said. "After a few good games you understand your role more and progress further."
The only downside for Batchelor was a combination of shoulder and hip injuries that forced him to miss some matches over the season.
But after minor surgery, he is in the closing stages of his rehabilitation and is close to joining the main Tigers group for preseason training.
"Adjusting to the training was the hardest thing because the players go so hard and do it over six days of the week plus team meetings," he said.
Batchelor's assured play earned him a contract extension which he signed last week, keeping him at the Tigers for the next two seasons, a stay he hopes to further extend. "I don't want to be anywhere else," he said.
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