Lance Franklin turned a nightmare night into a dream return against his old club as Sydney beat Hawthorn by 19 points on Friday at ANZ Stadium.
Playing his first match against the club he helped to win two premierships, Franklin started the night by kicking 0.7 in the first three quarters and conceded six free-kicks.
He redeemed himself in the last quarter to grab the lead back for Sydney with two crucial goals to help seal a 15.17 (107) to 13.10 (88) victory.
The Swans kicked six goals to two in the final quarter to overrun a brave but wounded Hawthorn side, who dominated the middle quarters.
Adversity hit the Hawks before the game when the decision was made to pull Luke Hodge due to hamstring tightness.
Further misfortune hit them in the third quarter, when Cyril Rioli came off with what appeared to be a hamstring issue.
After passing up a couple of other shots, Franklin kicked a set shot from around 50 metres to regain the lead for Sydney with the first goal of the final quarter.
He then skilfully swivelled onto his left foot and soccered the ball through.
Nic Malceski, Hawthorn's 2012 grand final nemesis, snapped truly with his left boot to establish a 16-point buffer.
Jarryd Roughead then kicked two quick goals to get the margin to within four.
Jonathan Simpkin kicked successive behinds and a rushed behind put Hawthorn back within seven.
Outstanding Sydney midfielder Daniel Hannebery, who had 40 touches, iced the game with a goal and Lewis Jetta added one more.
The Swans scored the first 21 points and led by as much as 24.
Kurt Tippett kicked four goals for Sydney, whose new-look forward line threatened to blow the Hawks away.
With his quartet of prize forwards all available for the first time this season, Sydney coach John Longmire rotated them on and off the ground to keep Hawks counterpart Alastair Clarkson guessing.
The first quarter was notable for an incredible amount of smothers, with Hawthorn in particular guilty of not getting enough height on their kicks.
Hawthorn kicked four goals to two in the second quarter to get within seven at halftime.
With Shaun Burgoyne exerting increasing influence, the Hawks kicked five goals in the third quarter to lead by three going into the final term.
Franklin said it was good to get the game over with and he wasn't fazed by his inaccuracy.
"I wasn't thinking about my goal-kicking at all," Franklin said.
"I knew if I stuck to the defensive side of my game, that was the focus coming into the game, I'd be it.
"Fortunately enough I was able to kick two in the last and a couple of other boys popped up and kicked goals too.
Asked about the incident with Birchall, Franklin said: "I said sorry, There was nothing in it.
"I said 'get up.' There was no drama."
Clarkson refused to use injuries as an excuse and said he wasn't sure about the severity of Rioli's problem.
"We were pretty ordinary tonight," Clarkson said, pointing to Sydney's tally of 68 inside 50s.
"They were a lot more fanatical at the contest than what we were.
"We were lucky to still be in the contest at quarter time.
"We clawed our way back into it and worked pretty hard and had our chances though, in the second and third quarters, to give ourself a chance to win the game."
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