Hawthorn defender Ben Stratton has two critical pieces of research to carry out during AFL grand final week.
The first will be doing his homework on the Fremantle forwards and preparing for his direct opponent.
The second will be compiling The Playlist.
Stratton is the Hawks’ team DJ and, soon after their Friday night preliminary final win over Geelong, he was starting work on his grand final mix.
“There’s a lot of pressure – if I get it wrong, I get blamed for it,” he said.
“I’m pretty nervous.”
Fellow backman Josh Gibson thinks he knows why the Hawks were not at their best against the Cats.
“He prides himself on it,” Gibson said of Stratton’s DJ role.
“The boys were a little bit flat (in the preliminary final) – I think he was stuck in traffic and was a little bit later to the game than his normal early self.
“Some boys had to deal with some silence.
“I heard (Sam) Mitchell letting him know about it – but it didn’t affect Mitch’s game.”
Stratton, 24, has modern tastes – Jay-Z, Kanye West and Flume will feature in the grand final playlist.
It’s a brave AFL player who disrespects his coach, but Stratton is openly scornful of Alastair Clarkson’s preferences.
“Bruce Springsteen or someone, is it?,” he joked.
Stratton can afford to be cheeky – on the field, he is a superb defender who can play tall or small.
He might not be the most noticeable Hawks player, but his teammates love him.
“I can remember how many times, when I’ve been one-on-one and I’m thinking ‘oh no, this isn’t pretty’,” Gibson said.
“Then the 24 flashes past.
“Definitely us tall defenders see him when we’re in a bit of bother.”
Stratton’s game has evolved – originally just a stopper, he has worked on his counter-attacking run.
That became even more important this year when fellow defender Matt Suckling suffered a season-ending injury.
“The first couple of years, it was ‘my opponent isn’t getting a touch’ and if he doesn’t, I’ve played my role,” Stratton said.
“But probably the last couple of years, I’ve had to get that offensive run up a little bit.
“Now it’s shut down my player and then get used on the offence as well.
“If I can do both of those, I’ve had a pretty good game and especially with Suckling going down – we need a bit more run.”
