Footy is a passion, not some cold hearted, spread sheet dominated rational exercise.

On a Monday you want irrational reaction. You want emotion to trump reason.

What you really want is idiotic hysteria.

You’ve come to the right place.

Hawthorn (137) v Sydney (74)

Pre-Game

Grand Final Day is the greatest day of the year and yes, I am including International Chicken Wing Day (July 1st).

The day began with the best weather you could hope for.

When I flicked on the TV I was greeted by Bruce McAvaney introducing a segment on Cyril Rioli. You couldn’t make this stuff up.

I start really paying attention to the TV when the lap of honour by retired players and other notables begun.

The lap was great, but I was mainly interested in seeing if Darren Jolly could complete his lap without complaining about something.

It appears he did, which is a modern miracle.

We then had Ed Sheeran take the stage. I thought it was a good idea that he introduced himself, but even after that, most people seemed unsure of who he was.

It didn’t help that he was dressed like someone security would normally tackle if they went on the MCG turf.

The most interesting part of Ed’s performance was watching a red headed English man get sunburnt in mild sunlight. You could literally see him burning before your eyes.

I screamed at the TV ‘somebody get him a hat.’

Surprisingly, Ed’s soft pop rock didn’t really suit a sports stadium filled with 100,000 people.

I never thought I'd ever be so glad to see Tom Jones in my life.

I thought Tom was perfectly serviceable. It was no Meatloaf-like performance though, this was left to the Swans.

Did you know Mike Brady only exists in September? Apparently he hibernates in the hills around Melbourne, no one really knows where.

As winter turns to spring he awakes and guitar in hand makes his way to the ‘G’.

His performance of ‘Up there Cazaly’ at least had some relevance to football and seemed to go down well.

We then had Olivia Newton John turn in a trademark version of our national anthem. By ‘trademark’, I of course mean ‘bland.’

The Game

The game itself was a fizzer. Only Hawthorn supporters were happy with it, which is like pouring salt into a wound.

The only good players on Saturday were Hawthorn players, I’m including Buddy Franklin and Josh Kennedy in that.

The game itself, while terrible as a contest, was an amazing display by a disciplined and freakishly well drilled team, playing at their peak.

When it all mattered in the first quarter, the Hawks simply belted the Swans.

Jarryd Roughead’s tackle on Dan Hannebery was the stand out, but Lake was also making Buddy earn every kick and the pattern was repeated across the ground.

The last time I saw something this brutal, it involved a Federal Court Judge delivering a verdict.

Of course, the Swans are known to rise to these sorts of challenges, but on Saturday, they just didn’t seem interested.

They slunk from the contest like a sulking child. They left the Hawks players with so much space that at times it seemed they were just rehearsing set plays at training.

The stats show just how dominant the Hawks midfield was.

Norm Smith medalist had Luke Hodge 35 possessions and two goals, Jordan Lewis had 37 possessions and Sam Mitchell had 33.

Even Josh Gibson racked up 32 possessions in defence.

While these players were all good, these statistics are more damning of the Sydney midfield’s lack of pressure and running.

Up forward Jarryd Roughead kicked a game-high five goals and Will Langford showed he’s a big game player, with three goals including a freakish one from the boundary.

The Hawks pressure was great to watch, but so was their ability to always find a teammate in close and get the ball moving.

It was so impressive that it made me seriously depressed just watching it. How are other teams meant to get close to this?

The teams in the bottom eight might as well be playing another sport.

As for Sydney, they seemed to be putting forward a late argument to retain the cost of living allowance.

There can be no doubt they definitely need a few more Hawthorn players, if they are to challenge Hawthorn next year.

Franklin did his part with four goals and tried all day. The Hawks went out of their way to give him no love, apart from a Luke Hodge kiss.

Nick Malceski was solid with 26 possessions and Josh Kennedy’s 29 possessions reflected his status as the only midfielder who stood up for the Swans all day.

The amount of players who went missing for Sydney shows just how much AFL is a team game.

If a few players aren’t doing well, suddenly everyone looks bad.

You know that when Brian Lake is taking hangers, you're in serious trouble.

Sydney made more unforced errors than Bernard Tomic and gave up just as quickly.

For the Swans, this is going to cause some deep soul searching.

This season was truly impressive for Hawthorn. When a side can have such an interrupted year through injury and illness and then do this, it shows up all the excuses that other clubs make.

They have the talent sure, but Clarkson drills his players so well, tactically outthinks all others and most importantly, never lets up.

The good news is that finally, the drought is over for those long suffering Hawks supporters.

How they have waited.

It's not every year Hawthorn wins a Premiership, but it really feels like it.

Thanks: A big thank you to everyone who’s read this column throughout the year. All the nice messages make it worthwhile and it will be back next year.

I’ll be writing all through summer on the offseason and cricket and in a few weeks I’ll be releasing an e-book on the AFL season, which will include all my pieces for the year and many new ones.

Thanks for all your support.