Sydney suffered their first AFL defeat in over three months, but coach John Longmire didn't need to look too hard to find a positive out of the 10-point loss to Hawthorn.
It came in the form and fitness of Kurt Tippett, who standing at 201cm and weighing in at 105 kilograms always stands out.
Tippett, having missed two games due to knee inflammation in the latest chapter of his stop-start career with the Swans, finished with 2.2.
The 27-year-old's clean set of hands were again remarkable as he clutched a game-high five contested marks.
Hawthorn's entire team managed eight contested marks.
Longmire was just happy the key forward made it through the longer-than-expected hit-out unscathed.
"We went in thinking if we got 80 or 90 minutes out of him, we'd be happy," Longmire said.
"And he played a bit more than that.
"That was a good thing to come out of it, he got through the game and I think he's OK at the moment.
"Hopefully he pulls up well tomorrow, we go into a six-day break and then take on the Bombers."
Longmire pointed to Dane Rampe and Gary Rohan as some of Sydney's few shining lights in the clash.
The 2012 premiership coach's post-match message to his players, who could have been forgiven for forgetting what defeat tastes like in a 12-game winning streak, was a call for four-quarter consistency.
"You can't relax for a second, regardless of your opponent," Longmire recalled of his address.
"Hawthorn's a good team and they make you pay when you don't get your structures right or don't do the little things right.
"That's something we pride ourselves on, getting the little things right."
Rhyce Shaw is expected to return from an ankle injury against Essendon at the SCG on Friday night.
Longmire said Dan Hannebery, also nursing an ankle injury, was only a "small chance" of taking on the Bombers.
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