He takes it all in his sunny stride, this engaging 24-year-old who met his high school sweetheart back home in Warracknabeal, where his father and brother still run the local bakery. Even his surname is this or that.

"It's pronounced Chee-nee, but mates are always saying the commentators call me Chain-ee," he says, laughing that former US vice-president Dick Cheney "might have cost me a bit there". Not that he's at all bothered; he feels blessed just to be there, and is doing all he can to stay more one thing than the other.

He's on something of a roll, having played the first three games of the season in a Hawthorn defence missing Brian Lake, Ben Stratton and Ryan Schoenmakers. This has left him with jobs which, on the surface, could appear beyond a player of his height (187cm) and credentials (35 games in a seven-year career).

Cheney smiles at the idea that, in pitting him against Jonathan Brown, Matthew Pavlich and Jake Carlisle, Alastair Clarkson and his coaches have not exactly made it easy for him to nail down a spot. He loves a challenge, no matter the odds.

"I'm always excited by the opportunity to play AFL, so any role the coach might give me I'm not going to dwell on it. I'm just looking to do well, and super-pumped to get that opportunity as well."

His initial chance came at the 2007 draft, and he's still grateful to Melbourne for providing it. After a season of VFL reserves and seniors grooming he played 12 games in 2009, "was pretty rapt with that", but after just two the following year he sought a change.

Confirmation of a move to Hawthorn came in a Hong Kong airport lounge, enroute to China for a Demons exhibition game. Few teammates realised it was in the offing, one of them close mate Jack Grimes. "When he saw me answer the phone, he knew."

He was relieved and excited, yet gladdened to have a few days in a foreign land to say goodbye. He had bonded readily with his intake of draftees; now 21, he walked into a new club of mostly strangers, another examination of character he quickly negotiated.

After his first two games as a Hawk he mused to a new teammate, "I played 14 games at Melbourne for this many wins.'' He thinks it speaks to the quality of his peers in those Demon days that on a Monday morning he could not tell what the weekend had brought, such was the optimism.

Now Cheney plays in a team he says doesn't expect to win, but plans meticulously to do so. The final minutes against surging Essendon stay with him, the adherence to structure and calm execution of what was required that culminated in Cyril Rioli's matchwinner.

He could easily feel like a man caught between two football teams, if not a rock and a hard place; last season he played four games for Hawthorn, and enough for Box Hill to win a best and fairest and play in a premiership, both of which he is immensely proud. Yet he says the two sets of Hawks sing from the same hymn sheet. "So whether you transition up or down, it's pretty smooth sailing.'' he says.

Having a clear role helps, and the experience of 21 Hawthorn games means he doesn't feel "off the pace" with much to learn when that transition is an upward one. In the reverse, he says it's crucial not to overreach in search of being noticed. "If you think you need to go above (your role) you'll end up shooting yourself in the foot and it will stand out."

Getting dropped is disheartening, "but I still love the game, approach every game with excitement". He knows that to go back to Box Hill with his heels dragging "would bring the whole club down", and that isn't his way. "Attitude is something I pride myself on - to remain positive is one of my qualities as a person, I think that's helped me."

Cheney says Hawthorn's pressure up the ground has balanced the scales in his duels this season, and he is happy with his form. He doesn't know yet who he will stand against Gold Coast on Saturday, "but I'm sure it'll be someone taller than me". He can't wait.

"While I'm in there I'm taking the opportunity as best I can. I can't think as if there's someone coming back and I've only got a week or two weeks left, you'd start doubting yourself.

"Now that I've played a string of games I'm getting quite confident ... I'm happy to be there and don't want anyone to be kicking me out."

He appreciates the belief his coaches have in him, his peers too. As a boy he had a typical dream - to play just one game of AFL football. He isn't sure of the exact time span, but thinks the average career is a little over four years.

"I'm going into my seventh year now, so I consider myself very lucky to still be in the position I'm in."