HAWTHORN'S gutsy 20-point victory over last year's beaten Grand Finalist Sydney showed that the emerging side has made improvements and can handle the pressure of big games according to coach Sam Mitchell.
But the win may come at a heavy cost with midfielder James Worpel suffering an ankle injury that ruled him out of the match even before the Swans mounted a challenge after the main break at the SCG.
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The Hawks midfielder had to be helped from the field after being tackled by Swans ruck Brodie Grundy and getting his leg caught under his body in the second term on Friday night.
Mitchell described Worpel as "our best performer for the pre-season" but was tight-lipped on how serious the ankle issue might be.
"All I know at this stage is ankle. I said (to Worpel), 'Is it one of those, ok in a couple of days or one of those six-weekers?', and he goes, 'I'll be right'," Mitchell said.
"There was a moment where he looked like he was going to pop out of stoppage and he ended up on the ground and then limped off after that.
"I don't know what it is. If it's a syndesmosis (injury), that always sounds bad and they're anywhere from six (weeks) to a lot longer, so I hope it's not that. I hope he's just rolled his ankle."
The Swans were able to stay with the Hawks partly through their better efficiency near goal until the visitors tightened up in their new-look defence.
Josh Battle and Tom Barrass impressed on their Hawks debuts and their presence allowed captain James Sicily to be thrown forward when the game was on the line in the final term.
Former St Kilda defender Battle spent much of the night playing on Sydney livewire Tom Papley and limited the dangerous small forward to one goal.
"Josh Battle, he's a fantastic performer. He's got a great work rate, and I thought he just looked comfortable," Mitchell said.
"The thing with Josh Battle is he can play on Papley or he can play on a tall as well, so he gives us a bit of flexibility."
Sydney was unable to hand new coach Dean Cox a victory in his first match in charge as Hawthorn held off the hosts' third-term charge and then ran away with the game.
The Swans have their own injury concern with experienced forward Taylor Adams forced from the field with what Cox said was a "tight hamstring".
Tom McCartin had limited impact and finished with one major in his first game back in attack for the Swans, while Cox was full of praise for Sam Wicks and his move to defence.
"With Tom, it's about progress, it's going to take time, when you're playing against the best defenders," Cox said. "He presented well, that's one thing that we want to do.
"Sam Wicks was unbelievable. I thought he had a really, really strong game.
"When you talk about what (Nick) Watson was able to do for a long period of time towards the back end of last year and in finals, and then for Sam to be able to cut that out, then also generate a little bit of ball was very impressive."
