At first glance it appears the 2014 grand finalists have little in common, apart from Matt Spangher, Josh Kennedy and Lance Franklin. That first glance is correct.
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But we found four other things these ancient, but not so bitter foes, share:
Nickname
Both clubs changed their original moniker. South Melbourne originally referred to themselves as the Bloodstained Angels or Bloods.
Recently, the team of wealthy, sunny, modern Sydney started using the Bloods moniker again, hooking into roots that were put down between bluestone laneway blocks in Melbourne's then gritty inner-city south.
Hawthorn's original name was the Mayblooms. They have not sought to revive its use. However, there is a Bloods/Swans link – it was South Melbourne legend Roy Cazaly, coaching Hawthorn in 1942, who suggested the change of nickname to the more predatory "Hawks". Maybe that was because their record at that stage was 66 wins, two draws … and 238 losses.
Hawthorn developed into the greatest premiership-wining juggernaut in VFL/AFL history.
So history has judged the two nicknames thus:
Mayblooms 0, Hawks 1.
Tommy Lahiff
Think Tommy Lahiff, and you think feisty post-match radio commentary of the diminutive boundary-rider gatecrashing the dressing rooms of 1970s and '80s VFL clubs. And VFA Port Melbourne of then VFA.
But Lahiff was a VFL player of note, with Essendon, then South Melbourne and Hawthorn. And he also coached both clubs – Hawthorn in 1944 and South Melbourne in 1965.
Crawford
No, Shane Crawford, the Hawthorn star and 1999 Brownlow medallist, did not have any Sydney links, despite hailing from north of the Victorian border at Finley. We're talking Justin, recruited from Tocumwal as a zone selection by the Swans in 1994. A pacy midfielder built along leaner, taller lines than his famous brother, Justin made his debut as an 18-year-old and played in the 1996 qualifying final win over Hawthorn. He retired at the end of the 1998 season after 17 games for 11 goals at Sydney, and 21 games for 20 goals with the Hawks. But he still loved his footy. Justin, 37, is still plying his wares, for Berrigan in the Picola and District League. And the club's arch-rival, whom they will play each Good Friday in an annual PDFL blockbuster? Tocumwal. The Bloods.
Waverley
These are the two teams who farewelled the last Melbourne suburban ground Waverley, in the final round of 1999. Sydney, eighth, played Hawthorn, ninth, with the finals berths decided, and nothing on the line. But the public suddenly found some love for the formerly despised venue and with nostalgic traffic jamming the outer eastern suburbs, a crowd of more than 72,000 eventually assured a strangely festive atmosphere. It was the day that Hawthorn's new constituency in the outer fringes was confirmed, a fact that would help the Hawks build a superpower a decade later. Sydney trailed by 30 points at the first break and the Hawks continued to blitz, the engine room of Richard Taylor, Craig Treleven and Shane Crawford providing opportunities for Nick Holland, Kris Barlow and Nathan Thompson. The margin ended up 85 points, the stadium was closed and it was off to Colonial Stadium, 40 kilometres away in the inner city.
