DEAN Cox said his Sydney side lost to Hawthorn in the contested ball, while Sam Mitchell believes it was forward-half turnovers that won it for the brown and gold.

Regardless, the Hawks got the four points with a 17-point win on Thursday night, overcoming the Swans' burst football and a 20-point lead halfway through the third term.

"(It was) around the contest, we went minus-30 in the second half. Our ability to be able to even that, they just outnumbered well, won the ball back in dangerous positions and hurt us off turnover as well," Cox said.

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"To lose that in all areas of the ground – between the arcs, forward 50 and D50 – is something we need to look at. 

"That's the part I mentioned to the players – against really good teams, you can't fluctuate to that level. And to Hawthorn's credit, they ramped it right up and won the ball back in dangerous spots and then [generated] a lot of energy from that.

"Hawthorn had 1300 more metres off turnover than we did, and kicked six goals to five from stoppage. They had 18 shots from turnovers to 10. So that's probably part of the game." 

Sydney kicked bursts of goals with its frenetic, forward-handball game-style – including six in the first quarter and five in the third – but as Hawthorn began to work its way into the game, big recruit Charlie Curnow managed just one disposal in the second half.

"I think [the game-style is] sustainable if when the ball isn't in our area, we can do what we need to do to set up behind the ball, and that's where we were inconsistent. If you are going to play fast, how you transition and what you do behind the ball is really important," Cox said.

"We fluctuated too heavily in that space, we didn't just defensively set the ground up when we were attacking, and they come hand in hand with everything that you do throughout a football game. If you want to play a high transition, it's not just one way. 

"In the first half, we had some speed on the ball that worked well, gave [Curnow] some good looks inside 50. I think the second half, our ability to execute centre-forward really dropped away. At one stage we had 17 per cent scores per inside 50 in the last quarter, 38 in the first, and nine in the second. 

"Some of our entries, method (and) execution as well didn't help, and he's played on some really strong defenders. It's something we've got to work through with him and the side as well."

Mitchell said it was a well-earned victory for the Hawks, who now go into an 18-day break before the traditional Easter Monday clash with Geelong.

"Although I think we dominated (contested possession) for small periods of the game, it didn't correlate to the scoreboard, which that happens in the game," Mitchell said.

"I thought they defended very, very well. From the opportunities we had, we should have put a bigger score up, and I thought we were quite lucky. Our defensive intent and our tackling pressure probably saved us a few times as well.

"They came into this red hot, and we knew we were going to be tested and challenged, and we knew we were going to have to play a lot of good footy, not just a bit. It felt like a well-earned game. I couldn't be more proud of the effort (the players) put in. There was an intensity about the whole game right to the last five seconds.

"You really know what you're going to get when Sydney play, they're playing some really good, high-quality footy. The first part of the game was very high scoring. In the second quarter, we had a lot of intercepts in the front half of the ground. We had a lot of entries, but we weren't able to put a score on the board and Sydney have been renowned for a long time for being able to withstand high numbers of inside 50s and it's not very fun to be on the other side of it coaching, to be honest, because we just couldn't find a way to score going in."

Nick Watson received treatment on a right hip complaint, but played out the game, and recovered quickly after copping an accidental shoulder to the head from teammate Jai Newcombe.

"Looking at how fast he was running with 10 seconds to go, I think he's fine," Mitchell said.

"I trust our doctors wholeheartedly, so whatever they suggest, that's what we do, and they're probably on the conservative side. I have full faith in that. 

"He's exciting and fun to watch and all that, but he's genuinely tough. He's not intimidating as far as his size goes, but he's one of the toughest players we've got."