HAWTHORN small forward Luke Breust says there was no one point during the Qualifying Final win that he knew the Hawks had the game won, but rather a steady build up from the opening minutes of the third quarter.

With the scores deadlocked at 31 points each at half time of Friday night’s Qualifying Final, one team was always going to emerge and break the game open after a tough, high intensity and high pressure opening half.

Luckily for the minor premiers, it was the Hawks who burst out of the blocks in the third term with goals to Brian Lake, Max Bailey, David Hale and Liam Shiels in the opening 12 minutes of the term.

Quickly, the Hawks had opened up a 24-point lead, the biggest of the game.

By the end of the term, the Hawks had kicked 5.2 to Sydney’s 1.1 and had the momentum heading into the final change.

But there was no one moment that stood out for Breust, where he had an inkling the game was tilting in Hawthorn’s direction.

“We slowly built during the whole third quarter, there wasn’t one moment where we thought we had control,” he told hawthornfc.com.au

“It seemed as though each goal we got was a step in the right direction and you could tell the boys were getting up and about and starting to play some good footy.

“The way we grinded that third quarter out and then started well in the last was probably where you thought we could really ram it home.”

The Hawks went on to kick five unanswered goals after Sydney got the first of the final term and finish the second half with  11.8 to 3.2 – it was a domination by Hawthorn in the second half and the final margin of 54 points reflected that.

Bruest, a key member of Hawthorn’s forward and midfield rotations said an assessment of the midfield and pressure from the forward line at half time helped turn the game in Hawthorn’s favour in the second half.

“We knew it was always going to be tough in the first half and it turned out to be exactly what we thought. It was really tight and hard to get the scoreboard pressure going,” he said.

“At half time we came in addressed their back feed, their run from half back and acknowledged they were about 10 up in the clearances, so we looked at that and thought if we could get that level, it gives us a chance to play the game in our half.

“In the second half we stopped their back feed and Maxy (Max Bailey), Haley and the mids got their hands on the footy a bit more which swung the game in our favour.”

The biggest turnaround in the game after half time was Hawthorn’s ability to win the ball in space, with 135 uncontested possessions to Sydney’s 59 in the second half.

The Swans actually had 113 uncontested possessions in the opening half, but Hawthorn’s ability to win the ball in close and spread from the contest and outlast Sydney on the outside was telling.

From there, it helped the Hawks to cut through the Swans’ pressure and deliver inside 50 to its forwards.

The Hawks improved their kicking efficiency from 61.8 at half time to 70 per cent at the final siren and took 14 marks inside 50 after half time.

“The first half our forward line was pretty clogged, they had a spare man behind the footy and the stoppages and it was pretty hard to find targets inside 50,” Breust said.

“We did it ok in the first half, but that second half, the way the mids and the defenders brought the ball us and used their skill with their feet, it was pretty easy to get on the end of it.

“Our second half ball use was outstanding, we just pulled the trigger and if there was a free guy there we backed ourselves to hit him and that helped us get through Sydney’s defence.

“We worked pretty well down there in the forward line and those hit-up leads were working well for us.”

It was an impressive win for the Hawks without star forwards Lance Franklin and Cyril Rioli who are likely to return to bolster the side for the Preliminary Final against either Geelong or Port Adelaide in two weeks time.

But Breust said one of the biggest positives out of the Qualifying Final win was the confidence it instilled in the playing group that if it gets 22 contributors, the team is hard to beat.

He gave credit to Franklin and Rioli’s replacements in the side – Matt Spangher and Liam Shiels for their ability to step in and fill the shoes left vacant by the two stars.

“It was a different mix down there without Buddy, but I think everyone did their job and played their role,” he said.

“Matty Spangher came in and played his role, he played a similar way to Bud by creating a contest and not allowing the Sydney defenders to mark it.

“Liam Shiels came in and played a similar role to Cyril where he applies the pressure and got at the feet of the big guys and I thought they did their jobs really well.

“It’s an easy forward line to play in because we do work well with each other down there and the possible inclusions of Franklin and Rioli will only strengthen our group.”