TO PARAPHRASE Hawthorn coaching legend Allan Jeans, All-Australian defender Josh Battle is a reliable driver in heavy traffic.
Captain and fellow backman James Sicily said once Battle is given an opponent, that tends to be all that needs to be said.
Jeans famously called Gary Ayres, a five-time premiership defender for the Hawks through the 1980s and '90s, a "good driver in heavy traffic" for his outstanding ability to get the job done under pressure.
Since joining Hawthorn from St Kilda this season as a free agent, Battle likewise has proved himself as a low-maintenance teammate.
"You can have a (Jeremy) Cameron or a Charlie Curnow and you can just say 'JB - you just take him'," Sicily said of the star Geelong and Carlton key forwards.
"Sometimes that can be an hour of what-ifs in the coach's mind, around OK, if this happens, if he gets off the chain, who are we going to go to?'
"Being able to say 'just put Josh Battle on him' - that's it - that's a pretty good luxury."
As much as GWS will have many forward threats when it hosts Hawthorn in Saturday's elimination final, Sicily said the Hawks defenders fear no one.
"We have a lot of confidence and self-belief that we can match up on anyone, any forward line," Sicily said.
"But we try and narrate it as if they have more to worry about us, than we have to worry about them.
"That's the way we're trying to spin it in our own minds. Obviously you need to respect your opponents and be ready for what they're good at, things like that, but we try to be a bit more positive in the way we approach it.
"It's a bit more about us than it is about them."
Battle and Tom Barrass joined Sicily as Hawthorn's key defenders this season. With Jarman Impey, Josh Weddle, who could return from injury on Saturday, Blake Hardwick and Karl Amon, they've formed the third-best defence in terms of points scored against.
"As the year's gone on, we've gotten better ... as a whole backline group," Battle said.
"But to work alongside those guys, who have been tremendous for the game, it's really good.
"It was always going to take time to get that synergy. We're third for points against - that's team defence."
Battle's first All-Australian selection is further confirmation his move from St Kilda was the right one - not that it was an easy decision.
"I wouldn't say it was definitely one of the goals on my list, but it's something that you look from afar and think it would be nice," he said of becoming an All-Australian.
"I'm definitely very happy with the decision I made ... it was a massive decision, probably one of the biggest decisions me and my family have had to make.
"I didn't take it lightly."
