WHEN the Hawks asked dual premiership defender Ben Stratton if he wanted to extend his contract, he had no hesitations.
Stratton was contracted until the end of 2016, but has re-signed for a further three years, which will keep him at the club until the end of 2019.
“It was a pretty good feeling when the club came to me and sort of said, do you want to look at extending your contract,” the 26-year-old said.
“I was pretty happy to add another three years on and pretty much I’ll be here for almost 10 years now.
“It’s gone pretty quick, and I was rapt to extend the deal.”
The West Australian said re-signing with the Hawks was an easy decision.
“There’s a great bunch of blokes here, it’s a really good environment to be around with a good culture,” Stratton said.
“When your workplace is fun to be around, you wouldn’t want to go anywhere else.”
Recruited with pick 46 in the 2009 AFL Draft from East Perth, Stratton has established himself as a regular fixture in the Hawks’ defensive six.
The reliable backman has had another consistent season in the brown and gold, playing 17 of a possible 18 matches, including his 100th AFL game in Round 8.
He said his season had been similar to that of the team.
“(It was) a bit rocky early, a bit up and down, but then I’ve been able to get my body right and play some good footy, probably from rounds four and five onwards,” Stratton said.
Shutting down opposition smalls and talls has been a feature of Stratton’s season to date.
He said adapting to different challenges each week had provided him with added motivation.
“That’s been the good part about my season – I don’t get stale just playing on the taller guys or a small match-up each week,” Stratton said.
“It’s been a good having the challenge of the small whippets one week, then playing a different, more versatile role the week after.”
While he may fly under the radar occasionally – as most good defenders do – Hawthorn Recruiting and List Manager Graham Wright said Stratton’s re-signing was an important move for the club’s future.
“Ben’s certainly not under-rated at Hawthorn,” Wright said.
“He plays on all types of forwards – he can play tall or small and he’s had a fantastic year playing as a negating defender.
“He’s played on the likes of Port Adelaide’s Chad Wingard, Adelaide’s Eddie Betts and Collingwood’s Jamie Elliott, but is versatile enough to also play on the tall forwards if he needs to.
“He’s part of our emerging leaders group and we expect he will step up for us over the next couple of years.”
As one of the club’s emerging leaders, Stratton is constantly looking to develop his leadership skills and can see a bright future for the club.
“I think what we’ve seen over the last two years is the younger blokes coming through are really pushing the mid-tier and older guys to play better footy,” he said.
“I just want to keep developing my leadership skills and see where that takes me.
“As long as I keep developing – along with the four or five others that are in that core group – if we can keep getting better and learning from leaders such as Luke Hodge and Jordan Lewis, it’s going to be beneficial for the club.”
Outside of football, Stratton has plenty to keep him busy.
He’s currently moving into a new house, studying graphic design and taking guitar lessons – adding to his keen interest in music.
But despite signing on for another three years, Stratton believes his role as resident DJ at the club won’t go the distance.
“I don’t know if I want to do that my whole career… the boys won’t like my music forever,” he said.
“The tastes have changed with music a lot, and as more young boys come into the side, I’m going to try to hand the baton over I reckon.”
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