DAZED and confused in the immediate aftermath of their 63-point Grand Final mauling, the Sydney Swans vowed to use the pain of defeat as a driving force for 2015 and beyond.

 

Widely tipped to have too much class and too many weapons for a Hawthorn side that scraped into this year's decider, it was the Swans left looking like the proverbial deer in headlights in an MCG massacre.

 

Having just watched the Hawks wildly celebrate the most deserved of victories on the podium, there was a deathly silence as the Swans shuffled into their change room. Single file. Eyes lowered.

 

Addressed by coach John Longmire behind closed doors, the room resembled a scene from 'The Walking Dead', zombie-esque Swans staggering about seemingly unable to compute what had happened.

 

"We didn't give ourselves a chance," Swans defender Heath Grundy told AFL.com.au, struggling to find words.

 

"Hawthorn played bloody well. They smacked us in every aspect of the game.

 

"I don't know what to say."

 

It was a stunning fall from grace for a Swans outfit that had headed to the MCG just a few hours earlier confident of premiership glory.

 

From almost every corner, the Swans were expected to win.

 

With Lance Franklin at the top of his game and a comfortable pathway to the Grand Final safely navigated, support for the Swans – from experts, bookmakers and all those not in brown and gold – was overwhelming.

 

So was there any hint of complacency from a Swans line-up that bought into the hype?

 

"I don't think so," defender Ted Richards said. "Throughout the week, we kept everything just normal. Normal routine.

 

"I thought there was a healthy amount of confidence in the group that we were coming down here to do a job. At no stage did we look too far ahead.

 

"But credit to Hawthorn. They played an incredible four-quarter game."

 

Among a sea of pivotal moments, one in the first term gave an indication of what was to come.

 

A ball was sent inside the Hawks' forward 50, where Grundy stood all alone in the hole.

 

Time and time again, he would have taken a regulation, uncontested mark.

 

But not this time.

 

Grundy opted to punch, and instead of clearing the danger, the ball fell into the grateful arms of Brad Hill.

 

He duly kicked the goal and broke an early deadlock.

 

"I actually thought 'Roughy' (Hawks forward Jarryd Roughead) and Teddy were leading up," Grundy said afterwards. 

"Apparently Teddy said to mark it, but I couldn’t hear anything.

 

"I thought I've just got to get there and try to get a fist to it."

 

It personified a display that was so out of character for these Swans.

 

But one trait they haven't lacked during their successful modern era is resilience.

 

"I didn't think it could hurt this much and it's definitely going to be a driving factor," Dane Rampe said in the wake of his first appearance on the game's biggest stage.

 

"I'm hell-bent already on going that one step further next year."

 

They also don't have to look far for confirmation it is possible to salvage something great from a moment of devastation.

 

"Hawthorn have shown it's possible," Richards said. "We beat them in 2012 and they've gone on to win the next two.

 

"It's only been half an hour since the game finished and we're all filthy.

 

"But we came in and John (Longmire) said 'we're going to get ready for next year'.

 

"The hard work starts again."