Sydney coach John Longmire has compared the Hawthorn team his side will face on Saturday to Brisbane's all-conquering triple AFL-title winning outfit.
The Swans and Hawks, who have clashed in two of the past three grand finals, are running third and fourth respectively going into Saturday's ANZ Stadium blockbuster.
The surging Hawks have won six straight since their four-point loss to the Swans at the MCG back in round eight.
A scintillating 12-goal flogging of ladder leader Fremantle last weekend has firmed them as flag favourites in the eyes of most AFL followers.
They are on track to become the first team to win three consecutive titles in over a decade since Brisbane's 2001-03 hat-trick.
"We're looking at a team this week that has won the last two premierships and beat the team that is on top of the ladder by 72 points without Jarryd Roughead," Longmire said on Wednesday.
"This is a team that is comparable to Brisbane in the early 2000s, maybe even North Melbourne in the 1990s," added Longmire, who was part of the Kangaroos side from that era.
"This is a quality, absolute powerhouse team and what they did last week shows what they are capable of doing, so it gives you plenty to think about.
"When we've beaten them, we've had to be at our very best to beat them, and that's our challenge this week."
Sydney's defence should be boosted by the return of veteran fullback Ted Richards, who missed last week's win over Brisbane because of concussion.
"He trained really hard yesterday and pulled up well," Longmire said.
"We've got one more training session to go, but we'd expect him to play.
"He's an important player for us, Teddy, It (him playing) allows us to do other things.
"We played Sam Reid last week back. It allows us a bit more flexibility in our team when Teddy comes in and obviously we're yet to see whether Jarryd Roughead plays."
Former Hawk Buddy Franklin needs two goals to bring up 700, which Longmire said would be an incredible achievement.
Longmire said Sydney's boom rookie Isaac Heeney could be considered for Saturday's game after playing one and a half games in the reserves following a knee injury he suffered back in round six.
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