HAWTHORN’S decision to trade for Shaun Burgoyne may have only started to pay dividends on the field after round eight, but his value around his new club became apparent a lot earlier.

The significance of Burgoyne’s arrival soon after the Hawks worked a trade with Port Adelaide might not have been immediately apparent to those outside the club, but Chance Bateman says he and his teammates quickly realised what they had on their hands.

“He’s been absolutely fantastic ever since he walked through the door,” Bateman says.

“When we decided to go after him in a trade we knew he wasn’t going to be 100 per cent early because he had that knee surgery, but from the first moment he walked in the door he’s been very impressive.

“His leadership around the group has been fantastic, even when he hasn’t been playing, and since he’s got himself on the park he’s really added something to our midfield.

“The first month or so he wasn’t part of the main group’s training so to fit in the way he has and help out in terms of leadership, to give a bit of education and direction to the younger guys, to do that when you’re not actually part of the main group was very impressive.”

It didn’t take long for Bateman and Burgoyne to form a close bond. Given the esteem in which the pair is held by their teammates it was only natural they became leaders to the club’s younger indigenous players.

“It’s not something that we do formally, but we always tend to keep a bit of an eye on some of the younger indigenous boys,” he says.

“Whenever we’ve got any knowledge we can pass on or if we can be any help at all then we’re both more than happy to do that.

“We’ve got a good bunch of indigenous lads down at the club at the moment and most of them are playing good footy - we’ve just got Rhan Hooper to come back from a hamstring injury.

“We’re all going pretty well and we do look after each other a bit.”

Bateman reached a significant milestone earlier this season when he became the first indigenous player to reach 150 games and qualify for life membership with his beloved Hawks.

“To have a small part of Hawthorn’s history is pretty special,” he says.

“I didn’t think about it that much at the time, but since then I’ve had a bit more time to think about it and it was a pretty special day. Birch (Grant Birchall) played his 100th on the same day and we had a pretty good win against the Lions.”

Bateman’s ability to have a positive influence in the community was something that was lost on him early in his career.

But it’s an area of his life he’s worked hard on, with his involvement in developing a school program in association with former politician Mal Brough and the Bluearth Foundation evidence of how far he’s come.

“It’s a DVD we’re trying to put together and it’s all about getting to school, the importance of education, having a healthy lifestyle and stuff like that,” Bateman says of the project.

“We get on camera and we might read a book that they’ll be reading up in their school for example. As they’re watching it we’ll be reading along and teaching them about nutrition, hydration, physical activity and things like that.

“That will go out to schools up in the Kimberley area, the Tiwi Islands and other areas up north and hopefully around the country.”

Teammates Cyril Rioli, Brent Renouf and Stephen Gilham are also involved in the project and Bateman is proud to be able to lend the club’s support to such a worthy cause.

It’s clearly something that’s close to his heart, but Hawks fans needn’t worry that Bateman is going to give up football for a career in front of the camera any time soon.

“I’m not too good at it actually,” he admits with a laugh.

“I still get a bit shy when I have to speak on camera, but I guess I’ll have to overcome that before we start shooting.”