STAR Sydney Swans midfielder Dan Hannebery says the Hawks are the benchmark of the competition again in 2016, but they are beatable.

With their opening NAB Challenge fixture less than a fortnight away, the Swans will have their first full hit out in an intra-club game on Friday evening, and big names Hannebery, Lance Franklin, Josh Kennedy and Luke Parker will all feature.

At a community clinic at Wilkins Public School in Sydney's inner-west on Monday, Hannebery said that the triple reigning premier have been unbelievable in the past two grand finals.

"I think the ability they've shown to repeat year after year has been impressive, (but) I do think if you're on that day, you get your defensive stuff right and take your chances on offence, you're still a chance," he said.

"I think we beat them one time in round eight (and) we had a pretty solid game, and then also got shown up heavily by them and lost by 90-odd points.

"It just shows that you really have to be on your game when you play them.

"I think West Coast certainly had their opportunities early in that first half (of the Grand Final) and squandered them, so who knows, if they had have taken those opportunities and tightened up some other areas, it might have been a different game.

"Hawthorn have shown on the biggest day that they're as composed as anyone, and this year certainly they'll be the team to beat again."

The Swans finished inside the top four last season to earn a double chance, but crashed out of the finals with successive losses to Fremantle in Perth, and North Melbourne at home.

Hannebery said the way 2015 finished had been a spur for the players, and had also provided them with valuable lessons to take into this season.

"We spoke about the end of (last) year and we were disappointed to go out in straight sets," Hannebery said.

"We thought we were a few straighter kicks away against Fremantle from (getting) a home preliminary final, so we didn't think it was a wasted year in that respect.

"We thought there was some positives to take out of the finals, and we've identified some areas that we need to work on, like ball movement into the forward line which we've been working really hard on this pre-season, and will continue to do so throughout the year."