HAWTHORN has finished off an inconsistent first half of the season with a hard-fought 11-point win over the Sydney Swans at the MCG.

It was a tough physical contest that provided plenty of dramas right from the start before the Hawks ran out 12.14 (86) to 11.9 (75) winners.

The sighs were audible around the ground when exciting Hawthorn youngster Cyril Rioli hobbled from the ground clutching his hamstring just eight minutes into the game.

Rioli went straight to the rooms and re-emerged minutes later decked out in the full tracksuit. At this early stage he seems to have torn the hamstring and was seen walking around the boundary line on crutches.

Injury problems plagued the Hawks in the opening term with Luke Hodge, Xavier Ellis and Brent Renouf all spending time off the ground but all returned.

The wounded soldiers only seemed to inspire the Hawks as they continued to hold the Swans at bay.

Hawthorn, which has been praised for its detailed tactics and strategy, led the way by sticking to a simple game plan of getting the ball quickly into the forward 50 and kicking to a one on one contest.

Lance Franklin was at his competitive best against the consistent Craig Bolton and the Hawks crumbed well to him when the ball fell to his feet.

Captains Sam Mitchell and Brett Kirk were opposed to each other and both had an impact.

Mitchell finished with 20 touches but Kirk did his bit defensively as well as getting himself into some dangerous positions around the ground.

Jarrad McVeigh flew the flag for the Swans in the midfield, while Ryan O?Keefe was one of their biggest contributors with 26 touches and seven inside 50s as a high half-forward.

Hawthorn dominated inside 50s in the third term 14-10 but couldn'?t capitalise as the Swans outscored them by six points to set up an exciting final term.

The game was remarkable for many reasons, not least because of the constant drama surrounding Swan Barry Hall.

He put the hard hit on Ellis in the first quarter, he marked and goaled only to be called back for holding the man early in the third term, and then came the meltdown in the final term that switched the momentum Hawthorn'?s way.

The Hawks were up by only four points midway through the final term and just when the game seemed in the balance Hall gave away a free kick deep in attack.

A few angry words with an umpire and a couple of retaliations saw not one but three 50m penalties paid against him and Jarryd Roughead kicked the goal from point-blank range.

Hall was promptly dragged, prompting the biggest noise of the game, the sound of every Hawthorn supporter loudly booing him.

The Swans forward came back on but the Hawks had all the momentum and a couple more goals. The game was not out of the Swans? grasp but they were up against it.

Adam Goodes troubled the Hawks across half-forward and got the better of Hodge.

But the Hawthorn defender was still a welcome inclusion to the side, directing traffic from half-back and gathering 23 touches.

The Hawks went in to the last change with a 10-point lead but the Swans? third quarter momentum carried through to the opening minutes of the final quarter with goals to Darren Jolly and Adam Goodes giving the Swans the lead for the first time of the day.

A goal to Mark Williams changed the lead again but Hall?'s resulting meltdown kept the momentum Hawthorn'?s way.

The Swans kept pushing forward and Hawthorn kept cutting them off, no turnover more significant than when Hodge ran backwards in to a contest to take the grab.

It was an encouraging sign for the Hawks as they scrapped hard for their sixth win this season and the comfort of knowing their defensive general was back doing what he does best.

Hawthorn        4.5 7.5 9.11 12.14 (86)
Sydney Swans    2.5 4.7 8.7 11.9 (75) 

GOALS
Hawthorn: Franklin 3, Roughead 3, Williams 3, Ellis 2, Mitchell
Sydney Swans: Goodes 3, Hall 2, Mattner, McVeigh, J. Bolton, O'Loughlin, Kirk, Jolly

BEST
Hawthorn: Mitchell, Sewell, Ellis, Hodge, Campbell, Guerra, Franklin
Sydney Swans: Goodes, O'Keefe, J. Bolton, Jolly, McVeigh, Mattner, C. Bolton

INJURIES
Hawthorn: Brown (corked thigh) out, replaced in selected side by Tuck, Murphy (illness) out, replaced in selected side by Schoenmakers, Rioli (hamstring), Ellis (cut lip)
Sydney Swans: C. Bolton (twisted knee), Crouch (knocked knee)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Donlon, Vozzo, Hendrie

Official crowd: 44,464 at the MCG


The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.


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