Even Hawks co-captain James Sicily was surprised by how comprehensively his “in sync” side handled Fremantle at Optus Stadium.
Hawthorn suffocated the Dockers on their home turf in Thursday night’s qualifying final to hand the minor premiers their first loss at the Perth venue in 2026.
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Sam Mitchell’s troops applied intense heat all night to completely control the contest in a 32-point win.
Hawthorn’s defence was particularly exceptional. They held the Dockers to just 40 points — their lowest score this season — as star trio Jye Amiss, Josh Treacy and Patrick Voss were held to a combined two goals after over 150 majors between them in 2026.
Sicily was clearly pumped up about it post-match, with the star Hawks defender shown giving it to Voss while he celebrated after the final siren.
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“That felt really in sync and I loved our attitude, the team D (defence),” Sicily told Fox Footypost-match.
“We’ve put a focus on it the last couple of weeks, to commit better, and I thought it was an amazing effort.
“It makes the backline’s job so much easier when we’ve got our mids helping out and our forwards coming up.
“What makes Freo so good, they’re well structured and well drilled and you know what you’re going to get, but it’s still pretty hard to beat.
“I thought our discipline around long down the line contests and if we were to lose a contested mark, it’s not really a big deal. We didn’t want to over-resource long down the line, just back the big boys in and get the ground level done well.
“Just the way we were in sync tonight is going to give us so much confidence.”
