JORDAN Lewis plans to harness the heartbreak of grand final day two seasons ago when Hawthorn chases a slice of club history against Sydney on Saturday.
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The Hawks and Swans clash in the 2014 grand final at the MCG, a repeat of the 2012 decider which Alastair Clarkson’s men lost in agonising fashion.
Lewis, whose side won all the key statistics but lost 14.7 (91) to 11.15 (81), said the defeat had not been a talking point behind closed doors this week.
But the Warrnambool-raised onballer believed the players who remained — 17 if Cyril Rioli and Brad Sewell earn recalls —would use the result as motivation. “We haven’t actually spoken about it yet but I imagine the players in their own time would be thinking about it,” Lewis told The Standard yesterday.
“No one wants to experience a loss on grand final day. You don’t have next week to redeem yourself.
“I imagine some of the guys would use that as some sort of motivation. I feel sick in the stomach when I think about that game.
“If you’re ever out on the field and you’re stuffed and can’t be bothered running, you think about those five minutes after the grand final and that gets you through.”
Lewis, 28, said the loss proved the football adage that anything can happen in grand finals.
He highlighted the 2013 grand final, which Hawthorn won against Fremantle despite being under siege at various stages, as further proof.
“We sat down after the game (in 2012) and every indicator we take we were in front. You sit there and think, ‘how come we didn’t win?’,” he said
“For a long time they had a run-on and managed to kick two goals late which put them in front. We ran out of time to run them down.
“Then you look at last year, we didn’t win as many indicators as we would’ve liked but we still won the game.
“That sort of stuff goes out the window come grand final day. It’s a tight contest. It’s a different game to normal. It’s a fierce battle.”
Lewis has declared himself fit for the grand final, despite suffering a corked thigh in the heart-stopping preliminary triumph against Port Adelaide.
Opening up on the injury, which forced coaching staff to substitute him in the third quarter, he said he was confident of being 100 per cent fit by Saturday.
“I’m a pretty optimistic sort of person. Those sort of thoughts (about missing the grand final) didn’t creep into my mind at any stage,” he said.
Lewis said he was attempting to remain as calm as possible this week.
“It’s funny. Coming into a grand final, if you think about it too much early on in the week, you can drain yourself out,” he said.
“I’ve learnt over the years not to get too excited too early. There are certain things in the week that are different but a lot of it remains the same.
“Everything done at the club is the same as a normal week, except our Thursday training sessions — there’s going to be 10,000 people there.
“That and the grand final parade are two really different things. We tell our players to enjoy them, don’t shut them out. You might not get this experience again.”
First bounce in the Swans-Hawks showdown is at 2.30pm on Saturday.
afawkes@fairfaxmedia.com.au