HAWTHORN 3.4 4.7 9.9 15.15 (105)
SYDNEY SWANS 3.3 4.7 5.8 7.9 (51)
GOALS
Hawthorn: Gunston 3, Hale 2, Roughead 2, Hill, Spangher, Lake, Bailey, Shiels, Puopolo, Anderson, Breust
Sydney Swans: Tippett 2, Rohan, Pyke, Jetta, O’Keefe, White
BEST
Hawthorn: Hodge, Mitchell, Sewell, Burgoyne, Guerra, Lake, Birchall, Gunston
Sydney Swans: Jack, Kennedy, Pyke, Bird, Parker, Mitchell
Official crowd: 59,615 at the MCG
Who played?
HAWTHORN
B: Ben Stratton, Brian Lake, Brent Guerra
HB: Shaun Burgoyne, Josh Gibson, Grant Birchall
C: Isaac Smith, Luke Hodge, Bradley Hill
HF: Luke Breust, Jack Gunston, Jordan Lewis
F: Paul Puopolo, Jarryd Roughead, Liam Shiels
FOLL: David Hale, Sam Mitchell, Brad Sewell
I/C: Max Bailey, Jed Anderson, Matt Spangher, Brendan Whitecross
SYDNEY SWANS
B: Dane Rampe, Heath Grundy, Nick Malceski
HB: Jarrad McVeigh, Ted Richards, Nick Smith
C: Andrejs Everitt, Kieren Jack, Gary Rohan
HF: Daniel Hannebery, Jesse White, Ben McGlynn
F: Jude Bolton, Kurt Tippett, Shane Mumford
FOLL: Mike Pyke, Josh Kennedy, Ryan O'Keefe
I/C: Craig Bird, Tom Mitchell, Luke Parker, Lewis Jetta
Hawthorn’s last match against Sydney was an important one – last year’s Qualifying Final at the MCG.
The Hawks and Swans knew each other well, having just played the week previous, in Round 23 at ANZ Stadium but Alastair Clarkson’s team proved too good on both occasions.
Led by skipper Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell in the midfield, the Hawks broke free of the tight opening half – scores were level at half time – to run over the top of a tired Sydney by 44 points to advance straight to the Preliminary Final.
The game opened up after half time but the traffic was all one way, as the Hawks kicked 11 goals to three after the main break.
The Hawks kicked goals with ease in the third term, outscoring the Swans 5.2 to 1.1 before putting the result beyond doubt early in the final term.
Hawthorn was faster, smarter and worked harder with and without the ball in the second half and opened the game up with their run. Led by Isaac Smith and Bradley Hill.
In fact, the Hawks had double the uncontested possessions of Sydney in the third and fourth quarters - with 76 and 69 compared to Sydney’s 32 uncontested possessions in the third and 33 in the final quarter.
The Hawks also finished with 16 more inside 50s.While Lance Franklin was out with suspension, Cyril Rioli a late withdrawal due to injury and Jarryd Roughead well held, Jack Gunston stepped up and kicked three goals to be the most dangerous forward on the ground and David Hale kicked two in an impressive performance as his team’s second ruckman.
But the damage was done by Hodge, who despite having just 24 disposals (the seventh highest possession getter for the Hawks) was best on ground as he patrolled the defence and rebounded time after time. He finished with five for the game, Hawthorn’s best on the night.
Josh Gibson and Brian Lake were also exceptional in defence, as Kurt Tippett and Jesse White were ineffective, while Mitchell has 29 disposals in the midfield and across half back.
For the Swans, Kieran Jack was their best with 32 disposals, Josh Kennedy had 29 and ted Richards and Mike Pyke was the most effective of the big men with 20 hit outs and a goal.
What the coaches said
Hawthorn’s Alastair Clarkson: "There's a lot of energy in the way that we played tonight, and if we can continue in that type of manner in the prelim final, then we give ourselves a great chance to progress through to a Grand Final.
"As both sides tired a little bit in the second half, one side was going to buckle at some point in time.
"You just couldn't stay with the frenetic pace it was going at in the first half, and we're just enormously proud that it wasn't our guys who succumbed in that circumstance.
"We ran really hard and gave ourselves some opportunities, and managed to connect enough with some inside 50 marks."
Sydney’s John Longmire: "The second half, we just didn't get our hands on it, and every time we did we turned it over.
"They made us pay going back the other way.
"In the first half we were pretty competitive, [but] to fall away badly in the second half was disappointing."
