A battle that saw the third-placed Hawks up against the fourth-placed Swans, Hawthorn had lost Jordan Lewis, Brent Renouf and Tim Clarke for the clash but had regained tough midfielder Brad Sewell as well as Simon Taylor and Travis Tuck.

The Hawks were yet to beat Sydney since Round 19, 2003, and, having dropped just the two games so far for the season, appeared to have their best shot at defeating the Swans in years.

QT: Hawks sharpshooter Mark Williams kicked off proceedings less than two minutes into the opening term, before ruckman Simon Taylor kicked the match’s second major mid-way through the quarter.

The Swans hit back through star pair Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin to steal the lead, before Lance Franklin gave the Hawks a six-point advantage at quarter time after dancing around a pair of Sydney defenders and dribbling through a goal. 

HT: Franklin and Williams restarted proceedings with a second goal each, while a long bomb from outside 50 by Clinton Young handed Hawthorn a suddenly-ominous 26-point lead.

The Hawks had complete control as Williams slotted his third on the run in an impressive display before the two sides traded goals, with Luke Hodge and key forward Jarryd Roughead answering the Swans to take a 33-point lead into the main break.

3QT: The Swans kicked the first two goals of the term to cut the margin while Franklin was proving inaccurate in front of goal for the Hawks, before the mercurial forward manged to fend off four defenders in the goal square and land his third from close range.

But another two late goals through Ryan O’Keefe and Amon Buchanan suddenly had the Swans were threatening to steal the game with the margin sitting at just 16 points with a quarter remaining.

FT: Despite two early Franklin misses it was Jarryd Roughead who steadied the ship for the Hawks, boosting their lead to 23 points five minutes in to the last.

Buchanan pegged another back for the Swans before Hawthorn piled on four in a row to put the game beyond doubt, as the side’s forward quartet of Williams (four goals), Roughead (three), Rioli and Franklin (four goals, seven behinds) finished the Swans off by 31 points and claim the Hawks’ 13th win of the season.

Hawthorn            3.4    9.9   10.13   15.16   (106)
Sydney Swans     2.4    4.6     8.9     10.15     (75)

GOALS
Hawthorn:  Williams 4, Franklin 4, Roughead 3, Hodge, Taylor, Young, Rioli
Sydney Swans: O’Loughlin 2, O’Keefe 2, Buchanan 2, Goodes, Playfair, McVeigh, Smith

BEST
Hawthorn: Franklin, Osborne, Williams, Hodge, Guerra, Brown
Sydney Swans: Kirk, Goodes, Bird, Jolly, Ablett

INJURIES
Hawthorn: Bateman (corked quad) replaced in selected side by Tuck.
Sydney Swans: Malceski (calf) replaced in selected side by Smith. Kennelly (shoulder)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: McBurney, Rosebury, Sully

Official crowd: 49,529 at MCG