An all-out blitz, in NFL parlance, is when every defensive player rushes to try to bring down or 'sack' the opposition's quarterback for a loss of yardage or territory.
Lyon's Dockers employ a similar method – when the opposition gains control of the ball.
Fremantle's defensive pressure against the Sydney Swans in last Saturday night's preliminary final was at a level rarely seen at AFL level before.
The Swans' game style of flicking handballs to each other in the hope of releasing teammates on the outside or behind the contest failed to hold up.
They averaged a gain of just 13.1m per disposal against the Dockers –their lowest this season and the ninth lowest in a game all season.
They also had a net loss of minus 185m from their 171 recorded handballs – the club's third-worst in any game this season.
Fremantle swarmed the Swans, forcing them backwards and into making critical mistakes.
A passage of play at the 14-minute mark of the third quarter illustrates this point.
Swans ruckman Shane Mumford feeds the ball back to Ben McGlynn, who is besieged by three Dockers players and coughs the ball up.
The ball trickles toward Fremantle's goals where McGlynn fires it back to Andrejs Everitt. Everitt then flips it back to Nick Smith who rifles it to youngster Shane Biggs.
Beset upon by two Dockers players, Biggs handballs haphazardly to defender Ted Richards who is immediately under all sorts of heat.
Only an overzealous Chris Mayne, who laid 13 tackles for the Dockers on the night, saves Richards with a head-high free kick awarded.
It's the sort of vision that would be of deep concern for Alastair Clarkson and Hawthorn.
When the Dockers and Hawks met in round four earlier this season, Hawthorn gained 213m from handballs – the team's 11th highest tally of the season.
On that occasion, however, Matthew Pavlich, Luke McPharlin and Aaron Sandilands were missing.
The Dockers are a much more cohesive and settled unit now.
In Friday night's preliminary final against Geelong, the Hawks gained 366m from handballs. It was their third highest for 2013.
Hawthorn was also ranked fifth in metres gained from handballs in 2013, at an average of 199m.
The Hawks' game style of short and precise disposal will give them the best chance to crack the Dockers' frenzied pressure.
Their conviction in pulling the trigger and picking off targets up the middle of the ground from kick-outs will also be of crucial, as will be their ability to apply the necessary pressure on Fremantle when the Dockers are in possession.
Fremantle has averaged slightly more pressure acts a game than Hawthorn: 260.6 (ranked sixth in the competition) to 257.5 (ranked seventh).
"Every finals game you play, the pressure is up," Hawks midfielder Jordan Lewis said.
"Because the media have hung onto it a little bit, it tends to grow legs.
"No doubt they're a great pressure side, but if you look at the statistics, so are we."
Stats supplied by Champion Data
Twitter: @AFL_BenGuthrie
