A hand injury on the eve of round seven robbed Bateman of his chance to represent the Dream Team last weekend, but his possible return to take on the Power should bolster the undefeated Hawks who will miss star Luke Hodge with a hamstring injury.
"I think Chance Bateman will probably come straight back in for us." Crawford said. "I'm hoping that's the case, anyway.
"He'll need to get through training on Thursday. Obviously with Luke out it's a big loss, but getting Chance back in – he adds plenty of run and has been playing well."
Crawford was eager to praise the performance of his teammates in Saturday night's Hall of Fame Tribute Match, but indicated that defender Campbell Brown's pivotal final-quarter goal for Victoria wouldn't be a regular occurrence.
"It was good for Campbell to go up the field a bit, as long as he doesn't get ahead of himself and think it's going to happen every week," Crawford laughed.
"I think all the guys contributed in a way they'd be very proud of ... no [Hawthorn players] were injured so we're all very happy."
Clearly, passion for Victoria was on the talented midfielder’s mind, almost quoting E.J. Whitten’s catchphrase when contemplating this week's match.
"We now need to stick it up, not stick it up but go to another level to make sure that we’re on when we go down to Tassie on Saturday," he said.
The 33-year-old is hopeful that the break afforded by the tribute match won’t disturb the Hawks’ unbeaten run.
"We’ve had a big pre-season and obviously winning seven games in a row is a great start, so when you get that momentum and that week to week preparation you want it to continue," he said. "But hopefully it hasn’t affected us in any way and, if anything, that it has freshened us up a bit.
"The good thing about this side is that no-one gets ahead of themselves. Everyone keeps re-focusing week after week so I think that’s the positive thing about our side. Everyone gets on with it and knows that the following week is going to be just as hard as the week that’s gone."
Despite its record to start the season, Crawford wouldn’t be drawn on whether this playing group is the best he’s been involved with.
"I think potentially it could be … but as I said there’s still a lot of work ahead," he noted. "It’s not just going to happen. We’ve got to make it happen. We do have a lot of players in there who are capable of being match winners.
"The best thing about our side at the moment is that everyone’s playing a role and doing their bit and that’s why we’re in the position we’re in."
