Match

Sydney Swans vs Hawthorn

Commentary / 07 Mar 2025

Pre Game

00:00
The Swans have won three of their last four games against the Hawks at the SCG by 36 points per game.

Quarter 1

00:00
Q1 is now underway.
00:16
The Hawks win the first centre clearance of the season. Hawthorn had the sixth-biggest centre clearance differential in 2024.
00:41
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Karl Amon)
02:42
Will Day has been lively early, leading the way with four disposals. From Rounds 9-22 last season he averaged the fourth most disposals for the Hawks.
03:08
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Dylan Moore)
04:03
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Chad Warner)
05:10
Chad Warner kicks the season opener. The Swans had a 10-1 win-loss record when Chad Warner booted at least two goals last season – winning at least 21 disposals in each match.
06:10
After conceding the first three inside 50s, the Swans have gone on to have the next two entries, kicking goals on both occasions. Both goals were launched from stoppages, in which the Swans had the second-best stoppage score differential in 2024.
07:38
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Dylan Moore)
08:01
Dylan Moore boots the first goal of Hawthorn's season. He was involved in 29.7% of all scoring chains last year – ranked 11th in the AFL.
11:26
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Lloyd Meek)
11:28
It has been a productive start for Lloyd Meek as he gets Hawthorn back in front with a handy goal. He's had an equal-game-high four disposals as well as game-highs with three clearances, three contested possessions and 142 metres gained.
14:29
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Taylor Adams)
14:40
The Swans have scored a goal upon all three of their inside 50s. They scored a goal from 26.2% of their entries last season - ranked second.
16:14
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Jai Newcombe)
18:08
Hawks Interchange - Mabior Chol off due to an injury.
19:31
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Tom Papley)
21:11
Sydney has been able to score from a range of zones tonight, with all four of their goals being launched from different zones.
22:32
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Oliver Florent)
25:13
Tom Papley has been lethal in the forward half, assisting two goals and scoring one for himself. Papley ranked first for scoreboard impact for the Swans in 2024.
25:24
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Dylan Moore)
27:10
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Tom McCartin)
27:33
Dylan Moore becomes the first multiple goal-scorer of the match. He kicked multiple goals on nine occasions last season.
29:06
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (James Worpel)
30:12
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Will Day)
31:49
Both teams have been super effective with the ball, with Hawthorn and Sydney having disposal efficiencies of 86% and 81% respectively. The AFL average was 73% in 2024.
36:45
Sydney and Hawthorn have made the most of their inside 50s, scoring from 70% and 62% of their entries respectively. The league average in 2024 was 35%.

Quarter 2

00:00
Q2 is now underway.
02:56
The match pressure factor is currently 164 - the average match pressure factor in 2024 was 180.
03:25
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Finn Maginness)
05:23
Hawthorn is currently losing the groundball ledger by five. They won the groundballs by 8.4 per game in 2024 – ranked No.1 in the AFL. It won that stat by 36 against the Swans in Round 7 – the second-best result by any team.
06:40
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Joel Amartey)
09:02
Sydney outscored its opponents by 8.5 points per game from clearances – ranked second. 26 of their 33 points have come from this source tonight.
11:15
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Karl Amon)
11:34
A classy goal from the Hawks off the back of an intercept mark from James Sicily. Hawthorn has been dominant in the air, leading the intercept marks 7-1 and contested marks 4-1.
13:04
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Jack Ginnivan)
15:03
Sydney scored 30.4 points per game from forward half intercept possessions – ranked No.1. They are yet to score from this source tonight.
16:41
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Will Day)
16:43
Will Day extends the margin to a game-high 14 points. He has collected 16 disposals, of which seven were won in a contested manner, five clearances, 318 metres gained and two goals - all game-highs or equal game-highs.
20:35
Stoppages have been dominated by the Hawks, leading the clearance ledger by nine. Hawthorn ranked sixth for clearance differential last season.
21:56
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Rushed)
24:41
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Lloyd Meek)
25:15
60% of the quarter has been spent in Hawthorn's forward half. The Hawks won the time in forward half differential by nine minutes and 39 seconds per game in wins – ranked second.
26:42
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Will Day)
27:05
The pressure has been noticeable in the second term, with the Hawks and the Swans having pressure factors of 204 and 179 respectively. The Swans recorded a pressure factor of 158 in last year’s Grand Final – their second-worst return since the introduction of the metric in 2010.
28:29
SCORE GOAL - Swans (James Rowbottom)
29:02
Hawks Interchange - James Worpel off due to an injury.
31:10
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Josh Battle)
31:41
The Swans were unable to get their hands on the ball in the second term, having six fewer contested possessions and 17 fewer uncontested possessions. Additionally, Sydney only had 26 forward-half disposals in comparison to Hawthorn's 48.

Quarter 3

00:00
Q3 is now underway.
00:33
It has been an even ruck battle between Brodie Grundy and Lloyd Meek, with the hitouts-to-advantage being even and Meek leading the hitouts by one, although the Swans have scored three more goals from stoppages when these two having been ruck opponents.
02:29
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Mabior Chol)
03:13
The Hawks have taken seven forward 50 marks and have scored 7.3 (45) from set shot tonight. Hawthorn slotted the equal-most goals from set shots in 2024.
04:15
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Joel Amartey)
06:03
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Justin McInerney)
07:09
The Swans have been shaky with their ball use, having 10 unforced turnovers compared to just two from the Hawks.
07:55
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Chad Warner)
08:48
Sydney is gathering some momentum, kicking three of the last four goals. They have generated an inside from all but two of their chains this quarter.
11:58
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Tom McCartin)
12:08
Tom McCartin converts to bring the margin down to just eight points. He has played the entirety of the match as a forward after playing as a defender last season.
14:44
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Will Hayward)
14:46
Will Hayward squashes the margin down to two points. Will Hayward averaged a career-high 1.6 goals in 2024 – recording a shot at goal accuracy of 60.3% – ranked fifth among the top-50 in the AFL for shots.
16:16
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Karl Amon)
18:44
There has been a clear motive for the swans to move the ball through uncontested marks this term, taking nine more uncontested marks and gaining 120 more metres from marks compared to the Hawks this quarter.
21:25
Swans Interchange - Angus Sheldrick and is possibly out for the game.
21:47
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Conor Nash)
22:04
Conor Nash stops a run of four goals from the Swans in what has been a productive quarter. He has collected a team-high six disposals, of which all have been effective as well as two tackles and two clearances.
22:05
Hawks Interchange - Will Day off due to an injury.
25:31
SCORE GOAL - Swans (Nick Blakey)
25:39
Nick Blakey has been influential in Sydney's resurgence tonight. He has collected a team-high 19 disposals and has gained a game-high 605 metres.
27:22
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Finn Maginness)
29:21
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Rushed)
32:50
A tight tussle sees the Swans trail by five points going into the last quarter. Both Sydney and Hawthorn ranked inside the top five for fourth-quarter scores in 2024.

Quarter 4

00:00
Q4 is now underway.
01:19
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Rushed)
02:14
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Finn Maginness)
02:36
The Hawks strike first in the fourth quarter with a goal from a kick-in. Hawthorn ranked fourth for scores from this source last season.
03:24
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Joel Amartey)
04:40
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Chad Warner)
05:31
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Rushed)
06:19
Sydney leads the inside 50 count 5-2 but have scored just four behinds in contrast to Hawthorn's one goal.
06:20
Hawks Interchange - Conor Nash off due to an injury.
10:18
The Swans have been dominated once the ball has left the stoppage area, leading the post-clearance contested possessions by nine in the last term. They ranked fourth-last in this metric last season.
10:24
Swans Interchange - Taylor Adams and is possibly out for the game.
12:20
SCORE GOAL - Hawks (Connor Macdonald)
14:09
68% of the quarter has been spent in Sydney's forward half, although they have found one less mark in this zone in comparison to Hawthorn.
18:26
The Hawks lead the clearances 6-4 although have directly turned over four of those clearances. The Swans have not had a turnover clearance this term.
20:00
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Rushed)
21:13
James Sicily has soared in the air tonight taking eight marks, of which five have been contested and four have been intercepts.
27:24
SCORE BEHIND - Hawks (Rushed)
28:18
SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Oliver Florent)
28:23
Hawthorn takes home the chocolates with a 20-point win against last year's grand finalists. They dominated the contest, winning the clearance and contested possession ledgers by 14 and 12, as well as having long periods of territory dominance winning the inside 50s by 18.