Why wouldn't it? A feted former Hawk, Robert Dipierdomenico used to say he was "born to play in grand finals". Hawthorn – the modern version, which was born in 1961, almost expired in the mid-'90s and rose again in 2004 when it appointed Alastair Clarkson and moved to Waverley – knows how to win these late September games.

Hawthorn has won 12 premierships since John Kennedy coached its first in 1961.  In recent years, there has been much discussion of Sydney's wonderful Bloods culture, which is purported to extract the maximum from every player, be they battlers or Bondi millionaires. Perhaps, there should be greater heed given to Hawthorn's superior club culture; clearly, an outfit that has won three flags since 2008, and about 80 per cent of its matches over four seasons, has got some idea.

Hawthorn's strong record against Sydney – it had won seven of the previous 10 games, and beaten Sydney in round 18 without Brian Lake, Cyril Rioli and David Hale – was a source of club belief that it could prevail again, against the prevailing wisdom. Within the Waverley bunker, they weren't as daunted as those outside.

Clarkson did not play for Hawthorn, which was why some brown and gold folk were dubious when he was appointed – to that point, the Hawks had appointed a succession of three former Hawthorn premiership players. But if Clarkson lacked Hawk heritage, he did have the most important strand of Hawthorn DNA – he was a disciple of John Kennedy, coach of the club's first three flags and the man most responsible for Hawthorn's winning ways.

Several months ago, Clarkson hosted a dinner and invited a handful of the people who had been most influential in his football life. One of the guests was Kennedy, who had coached him at North Melbourne. Clarkson would end his playing career at Melbourne – where he established relationships with high-calibre people such as Mark Evans and Chris Fagan, bonds that would prove most beneficial to the Hawks.

Today, Clarkson has matched his mentor Kanga's three premierships. He is undisputed as the game's pre-eminent coach and has joined the pantheon of greats – equalling Mick Malthouse's premiership tally in just 10 seasons. A fourth would place him alongside Ron Barassi, Kevin Sheedy and that other Hawthorn coaching legend, Allan Jeans.

While Clarkson is a far more sophisticated coach than Kanga, the 2014 premiership was taken in a brutal manner that would make Kennedy proud – even if the jarring presence of his grandson in red and white would cause some ambivalence. The 2014 flag was a case of Kennedy's Highway '61 revisited.

Kennedy's Commandos were renowned for their physical style. Clarkson, like most great coaches, has borrowed bits from all his teachers – as well as other sports. He introduced the rolling zone, and has placed greater emphasis on kicking efficiency than other teams. His Hawks have tried to innovate whenever possible.

But this victory for the true believers was founded upon Kennedy's fundamentals: hardness at the contest when the ball is in dispute; ferocity at the man with the ball; running until you can't.

Football operations manager Fagan, who was recruited by Clarkson and Evans to be director of coaching in 2007, just as the dynasty was about to hatch, reckoned Clarkson had "reinvented" the Kennedy spirit.

"One of the things I noticed when I came to Hawthorn at the end of 2007 was how Clarko had brought that commando culture and attitude back to the footy club. It sort of reinvented the past.

"He's maintained that through the seven years that I've been here. It's still really strong at the club ... he never speaks about Kennedy, he speaks about commando – what we call our commando footy.

"Our players know what that means. I guess it's all about tackling and pressure and never giving up and all those sorts of things."

The players did "those sorts of things" for the duration of the two hours. The Swans were ambushed by the ferocity of the attack on ball and man and did not regain their footing. From the outset, it was as clear as the sky above the MCG that the generals among the Commandos – Luke Hodge, Jordan Lewis, Sam Mitchell, Shaun Burgoyne – were willing, in Allan Jeans' famed words from the 1989 grand final, to pay the price.

Like the Geelong teams that so tormented them, the Hawks were propelled by a powerful refusal to countenance defeat.

Watchers of the grand final can point to telling moments – Jarryd Roughead's bump on Dan Hannebery, a couple of Hodge tackles, a Rioli smother in the second quarter – when the Hawks demonstrated their intent and mindset.

But in terms of motivation, the moment of galvanisation might have happened four weeks earlier, when the players and coaches gathered at a property in Woori Yallock, next door to ruck coach Damian Monkhorst's home. Here, the players – one by one – told their team mates why they wanted to win the 2014 premiership.

"Everybody talked about why it was important for them to try and win another flag this year. Most of the motivation's really come out of that, since that point in time," said Fagan,  who rated this flag the most satisfying of the three since 2007 because of the obstacles surmounted.

"They all had their own stories and their own reasons why. You can imagine what a Matt Spangher might say."

Spangher had watched teammates win flags at West Coast (2006), Sydney (2012) and finally Hawthorn (2013) for a treble of flags missed. Spangher simply said. "I'd like to get one."

Fagan added: "For our team today, that was a big motivation, because he's a really popular teammate."

Isaac Smith, the Hawk midfielder, said of the pre-finals camp fire session at Woori Yallock: "It was obviously a great occasion, but there's been many times over many years that have brought this group together. It takes a long time to build a strong group and credit to coaches and Clarko, they've developed that over a few years.

"They're individuals' reasons ... that (Spangher) was a great story that came out of it. We had blokes like Matt Suckling, who had done their knee and missed out, Taylor Duryea played 20 games last year and got dropped. You know, there was all those type of stories that came out. It definitely builds a motivation."

I posed Smith the question why the Hawks keep winning flags. "Got a great coaching group and a great board and management team. You don't see teams winning premierships if the whole club isn't working as one towards a common goal. So I think the whole club knows that common goal ... hopefully we can continue it."

He didn't have to mention the players. They're part of the whole. Clarkson's Commandos.