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

Hawthorn stormed into Preliminary Final weekend thanks to a stunning second half performance against Sydney on Friday night at the MCG.

Second half dominance

After a tough, high intensity, high pressure first half, the Hawks opened the game up with brilliant skill execution, hard running and tight defence.

After having 136 uncontested possessions in the first half, the Hawks almost doubled that in the third term alone, with 76 and then 69 in the final term, where it inflicted the most damage.

The Swans had only 32 uncontested possessions in the third and 33 in the final quarter, they simply couldn’t work the ball into any space and the Hawks had all the running.

From that is the flow on effect of forward 50 entries, with Hawthorn having 13 in the third and 14 in the last compared to Sydney’s six in the third and 10 in the last.

The Hawks finished the match with 16 more inside 50s.

It was an avalanche of dominance from Hawthorn, one too much for the Sydney defence to handle, with the Hawthorn forwards dominating in the second half, kicking 11.8 to 3.2.

Forwards flourish

Despite having won 11 of its past 12 matches since 2010 without Lance Franklin, the Hawks had never done so in a final.

It led to moments of panic for some Hawthorn fans, doubting whether or not their team and more specifically their forwards could stand up without Buddy in one of the biggest matches of the season.

But after a slow start in the first half, where the Hawks struggled to find targets inside 50, taking just six marks inside the scoring arc in two quarters, the forwards soon found their rhythm.

With the midfield dominating and finding plenty of space, the likes of Sam Mitchell, Shaun Burgoyne and Grant Birchall never had difficulty finding a forward in a good position.

The Hawks took 20 marks inside 50 for the game – 14 in the second half alone.

As has been the case on a number of occasions with Franklin missing, it was Jack Gunston who stepped up and kicked three goals, while David Hale and Jarryd Roughead also proved dangerous inside 50 with two goals each.

Luke Breust’s game also shouldn’t be underrated, despite a modest 13 disposals. Of those 14, he kicked a goal and had four inside 50s and was a key reason why the Hawks were able to storm to victory in the final term.

Wasted opportunities

The Swans will see the first half as an opportunity wasted, given Hawthorn’s ability to get the game played in the wide open spaces and on their terms in the second half.

The first half was a different ball game though, with the game played in a more contested fashion.

The Swans had the upper hand in the contested possessions (63-83) and clearances (16-25) and even had more inside 50s than the Hawks, particularly in the second term (13-14).

But wasted opportunities in front of goal coast the Swans when they had the momentum.

They kicked 1.4 in the second term, with bad misses from Dan Hannebery and Tom Mitchell proving costly.

The Hawks too missed chances in the second term (kicking 1.3), but it was the Swans who suffered most from their missed chances in the end.

Defence resolute

If it wasn’t already, the decision of Hawthorn to recruit Brian Lake from the Bulldogs has been vindicated.

While some may have questioned whether Lake had something to offer Hawthorn given his age and injury history, he has proven so far that he will be an important part in the final weeks of September.

Lake and Josh Gibson have formed a formidable partnership down back and along with Ben Stratton, Luke Hodge, Grant Birchall and Brent Guerra. The once questioned Hawthorn defence is now a strength of Hawthorn, so much so it limited the Swans to just 51 points for the game.

Kurt Tippett and Mike Pyke did prove a handful early on though, taking big contested marks and kicking goals to set the Swans alight, but from early in the second term, the Sydney pair had no impact on the game.

Tippett, such a dominant force in the second half of the season had just eight disposals for the game and took only two marks. He kicked two goals – both of which came in the opening term.

Pyke on the other hand also managed only eight touches and two goals, thought he assumed the number one ruck role when Mumford was subbed out in the third term. He also had 20 hit outs.

The stars

Hawthorn simply had too many stars on the night and players who made their impact felt despite maybe having less disposals than some of their Sydney counterparts.

As he has done throughout his career, Luke Hodge produced some of his best football in a final, putting his body on the line and setting the example of what’s expected for his teammates.

On numerous occasions Hodge showed no regard for his own safety, backing into packs and not taking the time to consider what could be coming in the other direction.

He finished the game with 24 disposals, eight marks, three tackles and five rebound 50s.

After struggling against the Swans last week and in the past, Sam Mitchell was one of Hawthorn’s best with 29 disposals (10 contested), three clearances, four inside 50s and four rebound 50s.

Brad Sewell proved again why he’s a valuable player in finals with 30 disposals, four tackles and three clearances while Shaun Burgoyne stepped up again both in the middle and down back with 26 disposals and five inside 50s.

Credit too goes to Paul Puopolo who had 20 touches, but it was pressure both around the ball and in his ability to chase and apply inferred pressure that was most valuable to his team.

He laid five tackles but it seemed as though he did more throughout the game.

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."