WITH Luke Hodge's new arrival, baby Cooper, dominating conversation at Hawthorn, star midfielder Chance Bateman has been thinking about the best possible candidates at the club for baby-sitting duties.

And aside from the players who already have their own offspring, he's thinking skipper Sam Mitchell is the most suitable for the job.

"I'm thinking Sammy Mitchell would be best because he's very responsible and he's got a lovely fiancée, so maybe they can get a little bit of practice before they make the jump themselves," Bateman says.

And he's equally willing to name which teammate would be last on his list of prospective baby-sitters.

"Campbell Brown. He's been pretty well looked after by his parents and he's only just left home.

"He still doesn't know how to cook and clean and look after himself, so I wouldn't want to put a baby there with him. He moved out of home last year but half way through the year his mum was still doing a lot of cooking and cleaning for him."

Brown mightn't be on top of Bateman's preference list for child care duties but he's pretty impressed with his ability to adapt to the new role that was handed out to him for the Hawks clash with the reigning premiers on Friday night.

Brown was missing from the Hawks' defensive goal square so he could take up a new position in the forward line. He bagged 2.3 for his efforts.

"It was a different role for him and at times throughout the night he looked really dangerous up there," Bateman says.

"Who knows, he might find himself spending more time up there. Mentally he's strong enough to cope with a challenge like that, which is difficult, but Browny really did the job for us on Friday night."

The Hawks fell to an 11-point defeat to Geelong on Friday night in a match heralded by many as one of the games of the year.

While many commentators have been quick to praise the Hawks' effort, captain Mitchell has been vocal about the fact that "honourable losses" were not acceptable. Bateman is of the same opinion.

"Near enough isn't good enough for us any more," he says.

"Friday night showed us that we've still got a lot of work to do before we can really become one of the premier sides in the competition."

However Bateman isn't disregarding the positives from Hawthorn's performance.

"One of the positives we can take out of the game is that the reason we lost had a lot to do with things we can control," he says.

"Our skill level wasn't up to scratch on the night and some pretty costly turnovers in the end cost us the game. Our endeavour and our pressure was right up there and as good as Geelong's was."

Bateman is part of a talented engine room at the Hawks, but one that hasn't been fully manned this year.

The midfield has been without key figures such as Shane Crawford (suspension and knee tendonitis), Brad Sewell (shoulder), Luke Hodge (suspension and hamstring) and even Bateman himself (quad injury) at times. But Bateman says the absences may have been a blessing in disguise.

"It's been a little frustrating but at the same time it's given a lot of younger guys the opportunity to play footy as well and gain some experience," he says.

"Now leading into finals it gives us a great opportunity for all of us to play together and hopefully get some good form."

While this weekend presents the young team with another opportunity to get used to performing on the big stage, Bateman is wary of a Collingwood side on the rebound from defeat.

"Collingwood are very experienced at playing in front of those crowds, so they don't get over awed at all. They're going to be looking to redeem themselves after their loss to Essendon at the weekend."