The veteran utility, who in two weeks' time is set to play in his 22nd AFL final, can see more than a few parallels between his 2013 Hawks and the all-conquering Port Adelaide team of 2004.
That Power triumph remains Burgoyne's only premiership – having since played in two losing Grand Finals, with his former club in 2007 and Hawthorn last year.
The win over the Brisbane Lions came on the back of three years of disappointment.
Port Adelaide had finished as minor premiers in both 2002 and 2003 – Burgoyne's first two years in the team – but had lost both the qualifying and preliminary finals each time.
A year earlier, before Burgoyne's emergence, the Power had finished third but crashed out of the finals in straight sets.
By 2004, amid accusations they were chokers and couldn't stand up in big games, there would be no stopping Mark Williams' men.
They got a scare in the preliminary final, sneaking past St Kilda by only six points, but dominated the Lions the following week to win by 40.
"It was unbelievable," Burgoyne told AFL.com.au this week.
"We went through such a hard road, losing in the finals in 2001, 2002 and 2003, and I think we had a lot of burning desire within the group not to let another chance slip.
"There were a lot of players who were coming to the end of their careers, and the team were at that point where we were willing to do whatever it took to win that day.
"It was great, because we had some champions of the game: Damien Hardwick played his last game that day and retired with a premiership, and Darryl Wakelin, Gavin Wanganeen and Byron Pickett had all come from other clubs to get their flags.
"It was great reward for a number of years' hard work, really."
Nine seasons later, Burgoyne finds himself on another quest for that same reward.
The similarities line up one by one:
The Hawks, too, have suffered successive disappointments, falling at the penultimate stage in 2011 and at the final hurdle last year.
They have acknowledged that they failed to peak when it mattered in 2012, and stand determined not to make the same mistake again.
They have a core of long-time stars desperate to achieve (be it for the first or second time) the ultimate success before it is too late.
And, like the Power of the early 2000s, they've also targeted and recruited specific players over time – Josh Gibson, Jack Gunston, Brian Lake, David Hale and Burgoyne himself – in a bid to fill the final pieces of a premiership puzzle.
"The similarities are definitely there – being on top and not taking away the prize," Burgoyne said.
"I think a lot of the players at Hawthorn have learned a lot from that game (the 2012 Grand Final) and the finals series – how to prepare, how to get up – and I think they're really preparing themselves for a big finals series this year.
"We probably played our best footy last year from about round 12 or 13, and I think our worst two games of the year were the preliminary final against the Crows, where we just got across the line, and the Grand Final.
"So we've taken a bit about preparation and timing our run, and we'll tweak a few things so that, hopefully, we're playing our best footy at the end of the year in the last four weeks, instead of in the middle of the season."
The battle to win a second flag is a personal one for Burgoyne, too.
His move from Port Adelaide at the end of 2009 attracted its share of doubters, who suggested the Hawks had taken a big risk on the then-27-year-old, given his first days at Waverley would be spent on crutches following a knee operation.
He has long since scuttled those doubts, playing in 82 of a possible 94 games since the switch, and establishing himself as a favourite of the brown and gold faithful for his rare combination of versatility, burst pace, hardness and poise.
Nonetheless, to become a premiership player at his second club, Burgoyne said, would prove once and for all that the move had been the right one.
"This is the reason I came to Hawthorn – to win a flag," he said.
"We came so close last year, which would have capped things off very well.
"When I changed clubs, there was a lot of negative press about my knee.
"But to come over and not miss any games because of my knee…[winning a premiership] would make the whole transition worthwhile, and it would make it a success, really."
Most finals: current-day players
23 – Dustin Fletcher (Ess)
23 – Adam Schneider (StK)
23 – Jude Bolton (Syd)
23 – Adam Goodes (Syd)
22 – Alan Didak (Coll)
22 – Darren Jolly (Coll)
21 – Jimmy Bartel (Geel)
21 – Shaun Burgoyne (Haw)
21 – Ryan O'Keefe (Syd)
20 – Simon Black (BL)
Twitter: @AFL_MarkM
