Hawthorn 15.16 (106) Sydney 10.15 (75)

MOMENTS of significance for seasons and for eras can be in relatively unremarkable games. This might have been one.

It was a victory that even Alastair Clarkson, a man not so much understated as without statement, was prepared to acknowledge was a critical moment for his team.

Too many years without the sound of a happy team's song at games' end was a stretch that had become a phobia. Likewise previous encounters in Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth against the Crows, Lions and Dockers had proved fruitless.

Much of Hawthorn's development has been deliberate and measured. So a measurement of development was to mark victories not only by number but type - defeat of teams with regular success over them.

Defeating Sydney yesterday was the final hurdle to clear.

They now enter the finals - and with the top three sides 14 points clear of fourth they are certain to finish top four - comfortable in the knowledge they have a clean sheet. This is significant as they also have a solid winning record against the reigning premiers.

But these are the small steps taken. The victory told of a capacity to defeat a style of football as well as a certain side.

"We haven't beaten them since '03 so it is good to finally beat them because they are such a good side for so long so it was good to finally get one over them," Luke Hodge said.

"It was always going to be a hard, one-on-one game, so [it's] good to get over the line."

Clarkson agreed the issue was in confirming the strength of his playing group to win a tight arm-wrestle.

That style of game meant that, while they were tilting Sydney's arm back in the arm-wrestle, they could not slam them down. The Swans without Barry Hall lacked a go-to forward, unable to find anything meaningful from Henry Playfair, limited input from Ryan O'Keefe with only Michael O'Loughlin providing a target.

The Swans remained in touch, even after Hawthorn had edged to a 33-point lead in the third term and seemed likely to slice the game open.

It was at that point that Buddy Franklin and Mark Williams were stretching the Swans.

Lewis Roberts-Thomson is commonly nicknamed LRT, though this might be reviewed with the monicker The Banner considered. Why? Well everyone seems to want to go through him.

He began on Franklin and was thoroughly out-pointed before Craig Bolton was tried.

When shifted onto Williams he was taken to the goal square with the plan for the Hawks to direct all attack to Williams.

Collingwood had employed a similar tactic on LRT last week, seeking to funnel all play through LRT's opponent. So the Swans kept the defenders rotating to keep LRT high up the field, switching him constantly from Williams to Jarryd Morton. Before long Ted Richards, who began forward, was switched back and LRT tried as a forward before being benched. It is not the first time these tactics have been successfully employed against the Swan and makes for a troubling question on where he goes now.

In that third term the Swans began to clear the ball more effectively and carry it through the middle using Adam Goodes.

Interestingly, in the final term Hawthorn gave away two frees to Goodes for holding and bringing him down late in tackles after he had disposed of the ball through the corridor.

They were deliberate frees, actions designed to hold up the Swans. A free kick brought back to the mark was better than allowing the Swans run and momentum. Even with an advantage paid it took Goodes out of the play. The ploy worked: the Swans were denied their one-two handball exchange and stilted in their run.

"They have a few numbers that run out and we were focused on putting as much pressure on them as we could because they put so much pressure on us and we coughed it up a bit so we were trying to make them do the same," Hodge said.

In the final term Hodge and Brad Sewell were instrumental in ensuring that despite the Swans closing to 16 points at one stage, the Hawks were able to reply with three goals in four minutes and ensure what might have been a close game finished as it had been played - significantly on Hawthorn's terms.