It is said you need to lose an AFL Grand Final before you have learned how to win one.

But a devastating loss to the Hawks in 2014 wasn’t motivation enough for the Sydney Swans to claim a flag in 2016 after they were overrun by the good news story of the year in Australian sport – the unheralded Western Bulldogs.

It shouldn’t have been this way. The Swans went into the game hot favourites. While hearts were with the Bulldogs, pundits and fans alike expected the Swans to be too tough, too experienced and too good.

The Bulldogs were playing on emotion. A famous victory in Sydney over the Giants a week earlier was their grand final. The pressure of biggest stage in footy would overwhelm them. That was the conventional wisdom, but someone forgot to tell the Bulldogs.

Swans champion Josh Kennedy cut a dejected figure after the siren. He kicked three goals and looked to have given his side an edge with a 20-possession first half, but there was a clarity to his thinking in defeat. This one hurt more than the 63-point thumping in 2014.

“It probably hurt a little bit more (than 2014) because it felt like we had a chance, we were having a crack and at critical moments in the game they stood up and we didn’t,” Kennedy said.

“Credit to the Bulldogs they were just a little bit more consistent over the four quarters … they hurt us on our turnovers,” Kennedy said.

“It was certainly a hard-fought game. Every possession was certainly well earned, for both sides. They just got on top of us a bit in that area, in contested footy.”

Kennedy was outstanding for Sydney. Photo: Getty

Lance Franklin, who hurt his ankle early in the game but played on, has now played in two losing grand finals since joining the Swans on a nine-year deal worth $10 million.

“Buddy always tries his absolute hardest and doesn’t leave anything out there. You know what you’re going to get from him in that regard,” Kennedy said.

“He really had a crack and I’m happy for that.”

But Kennedy was not the only despondent Swan after the final siren. Coach John Longmire lamented his team’s performance, saying his players simply hadn’t worked hard enough.

“We think we needed to work a little harder, a little bit more consistently over the four quarters,” Longmire said.

“We weren’t quite up to the work-rate we normally get from our group and the Bulldogs’ consistency over their 22 versus ours (was too good).”

Look away now. Swans fans in disbelief at the SCG. Photo: Getty

Longmire was not interested in making excuses, either, despite having two good ones at his disposal. His men received only eight free kicks to the Bulldogs’ 20. His coaching team also had to deal with a first-quarter ankle injury to Franklin and a second-half knee injury to star midfielder Dan Hannebery.

“We didn’t have as many contributors on the day, and you need to have that if you’re going to be victorious,” he said.

“We thought we could get a bit more from a few more. In the end you need everyone with their shoulder to the grindstone, and we didn’t have that even contribution we definitely needed.”

While he and Kennedy were in agreement about the opportunity his team had lost, there was one key difference in the way they saw the result.

Longmire said there was no difference between this loss and the 2014 loss to Hawthorn.

“They all hurt,” he said.