GARY Rohan endured a grand final day he would rather forget.
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The Cobden speedster finished with just seven disposals as Sydney copped a 63-point belting at the hands of a rampant Hawthorn at the MCG.
His afternoon began with a knock to the face in the opening minutes, which caused blood to pour from his nose: and it didn’t get much better from there.
He was helpless when Luke Bruest outpaced him on the lead and converted a super set shot at the 15-minute mark of the first term.
But the moment which could haunt him during the off-season came midway through the second term.
Taking kick-in duties, Rohan eyed a flat-footed teammate about 40 metres from goal. But his kick was intercepted by Luke Hodge, who played on and goaled.
The major, Hodge’s second in quick succession, blew the margin out to 46 points. The Swans were as good as buried before half-time.
But Rohan was far from the only Sydney player who was poor on grand final day. Nine had single-figure disposal tallies while five others had just 11.
All up, the Swans had 287 disposals to the Hawks’ 426. They laid just 57 tackles to 62, despite not having as much football.
“I’m just so disappointed we didn’t give ourselves a chance. First of all I want to pay full credit to the Hawthorn Football Club,” coach John Longmire said.
“To come out and play in three grand finals in a row and win back-to-back premierships, it’s just an incredible achievement.
“They’re a fantastic football club, well coached, a great club on and off the field and have terrific players.”
Longmire said the Swans “let ourselves down” and “need to get back on track”, although he did not believe the defeat would have lasting damage.
“We’ll come to work when the players have had the break.We’ll roll the sleeves up and go again,” he said.
“We can talk about what we’re going to do but I’m a big believer in actually doing it. We need to make sure we come prepared to get better again.”