1.The rivalry delivers
Despite the result for Hawks fans, this game will go down as one to remember.
18 triple premiership players (14 Hawks, 4 Cats) took to the MCG on Friday night and their experience and expertise showed as the game went down to the wire, decided by a single kick after the siren.
Both teams demonstrated they are serious finals contenders and if they are to meet again in 2016, we know we are in for a thriller.
2.Second chance the silver lining
“If you are going to lose a final, this is the one to lose, all the rest of them don’t give you any second chances,” Clarkson declared in his post-match press conference.
However his attention shifted quickly to next week, to his team’s upcoming semi-final clash against the Bulldogs.
"We've got to move on pretty quickly, we'll get ourselves ready.
“Last year we went across to the west and got annihilated by West Coast (in a qualifying final) and we were able to bounce back strongly and we're just going to have to do the same sort of thing," Clarkson said.
3.The Bulldogs serious contenders
The Bulldogs showed on Thursday night they are not to be underestimated, travelling to Perth for a final and walking away clear winners.
The Eagles went into the match as favourites, however the run and dash of the Dogs showed form doesn’t count for much in a final, and getting a few players back from injury changed things more than most people expected.
“I was very impressed with the Doggies (on Thursday night),” said Luke Breust after the match on Friday.
“We really look forward to the challenge of playing them (this) week.”
4.Dogs to look to depth
The Western Bulldogs appear to have three players in line to replace injured midfielder Lin Jong for Friday night's semi-final against Hawthorn.
Forward Toby McLean, midfielder Lukas Webb and running defender Roarke Smith were all late withdrawals from Footscray's 18-point VFL semi-final over Essendon on Sunday.
Who will replace injured Dog Lin Jong?
With only a five-day break until the AFL final, the trio are frontrunners to replace Jong after he broke his collarbone in the stirring win over West Coast.
5.Experience holds the Hawks in good stead
The Hawks must now tread the same path as last season if they are able to take home a fourth straight premiership.
After suffering a substantial loss to West Coast in week one of the 2015 finals series, the Hawks bounced back, travelling to Perth twice, to secure the flag.
"We've done things the hard way the last few years, we've had a lot of obstacles thrown at us and shown that we're a pretty resilient group, and at times you need to draw on that," Burgoyne said.
WATCH: Shaun Burgoyne press conference
"Especially when you come off a loss you think about what you've had to overcome in the last couple of years, and this group has played better footy when we've had to overcome those hard obstacles.
