Over Hawthorn’s last three encounters with Sydney, the three margins, all in the Hawks’ favour, have a combined tally of just 17 points.
Last year the rivals met in Round 10 at the SCG and in Round 19 at the MCG, with the Hawks winners on both occasions by six points.
While in their sole meeting in 2016, the Hawks stole one from the Swans’ clutches as they kicked the last two goals of the game to claim victory by five points at the SCG.
The last three meetings between these two sides have been highly-contested battles.
Scoring has not been a feature of these duels, with the Hawks averaging just 76 points over the course of these match-ups.
In fact, over the course of their last 12 quarters against each other, the largest margin at any point has been 22 points, with these games consistently proving to be tight, four-quarter tussles.
Shaun Burgoyne has been one Hawk who has lifted to the finals-like atmosphere that these contests have created.
Burgoyne has polled three Brownlow votes in two of three games, averaging 23 disposals, seven tackles, 5.7 clearances and two goals.
This match-up figures as one of the great modern-day rivalries, having faced off in two of the last six Grand Finals for one win apiece.
Add to these premiership play-offs, the trend of close games as well as the high-profile player movement between the two clubs and this clash has every ingredient a supporter could dream of.
