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Hawks earned it the hard way

Soaring into rare air, Hawthorn have foiled the Lance Franklin fairytale.

The Hawks captured back-to-back AFL premierships with a 21.11 (137) to 11.8 (74) demolition of Franklin’s Swans in a fizzer of a grand final.

Hawthorn are the first club to achieve the feat since Brisbane’s triple treat of 2001-03.

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And their mentor Alastair Clarkson joins club legends John Kennedy and Allan Jeans as triple premiership coaches.

But not even Clarkson at his most optimistic could have envisaged the ease of this victory which secured the club’s 12th premiership.

The Swans entered as favourites with much hype surrounding Franklin, who won a flag with Hawthorn last season before defecting with the code’s most lucrative contract – $10 million over nine years.

Franklin kicked four goals and was Sydney’s best player in Saturday’s decider.

But the Swans were steamrolled as Hawthorn cemented their status as the most successful club of the past decade.

In their third consecutive grand final, battle-hardened warriors Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis and Luke Hodge inspired an early Hawthorn onslaught which not only killed off Sydney, but also the game as a contest.

Midway through the second quarter, Hawthorn led by 47 points and the flag was in their keeping.

Hawthorn’s ruthless assault stunned the 99,454-strong crowd, who were met with unprecedented security for the showcase event.

Amid heightened terrorism fears, rubbish bins were removed from train stations on the route to the MCG.

Undercover police patrolled the venue and twice as many uniformed officers were deployed than last year’s finale – though police were cagey about exact numbers.

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