The Hawks lost to Adelaide by 27 points after trailing by eight goals at half-time and Bateman said slow starts or poor finishes were costing them this year.
“I don’t think we’ve put together four quarters this year. Even when we’ve won we’ve dropped away in the third or fourth quarter,” Bateman said.
Bateman suffered some leg cramp in the loss but said he would definitely be lining up against the Sydney Swans this week, while Campbell Brown would recover from a corked knee.
“It was just a little bit of cramp from the weekend. A few guys were a bit sore but we won’t have anyone missing from the game for next week’s round,” he said.
Bateman admitted some frustration at Hawthorn’s inability to generate momentum from one week to the next this season.
“We seem like we’ve put a couple of games together and start getting a bit of momentum then you have a loss or you lose another couple of players and it doesn’t seem like we’ve got on a roll at all this season,” he said.
He said this week’s match against the Swans would be a tough contest despite the fact they are also coming off a loss.
“They are a great side. They are a really well drilled and disciplined side. We’ve got an enormous amount of respect for them,” he said.
“They are really well coached and it will be a big challenge this week. They really perform well when they’re under pressure so it will be a good matchup.”
