Richmond defender Jake Batchelor was one of the unsung heroes of last Saturday’s nine-point victory over GWS.

Batchelor was handed the task of nullifying the Giants’ in-form forward Cam McCarthy, who has booted 29 goals for the season heading into the game.

For the first time in the 2015 season, McCarthy was kept goalless by the 23-year-old Tiger backman, who restricted him to just two possessions for the match, for one behind.

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“It wasn’t too bad.  I think I restricted him fairly well.  I was happy with my game defensively,” Batchelor told the Richmond Review post-game podcast.

“There was one mark I gave up in the forward 50, which I’ve got to look at again and assess how I could’ve done that a bit better.

“I knew I was going to play on him for 95 to 100 percent of the time, so I just had to be physical and do my work early and not let him run and jump at the ball.

“At the same time, he’s a really smart player as well, so I had to be smart and not get sucked to the ball or the contest, and leave him out the back, which I think I did fairly well.

“There is always more offensive ball I can get, which has got to start being a focus again.”

Batchelor said the entire defensive line has grown confident in each player’s versatility throughout the season so far.

“We’ve got a pretty good back seven at the moment.  We can play certain positions and certain roles,” he said.

“You can give ‘Grimesey’ a role on a small player or a tall player, and we’ve got three or four players who can do that.

“There’s always trust in the backline, that no matter who you’re on, you can play your role.”