Josh Gibson was chasing a premiership when he requested a trade from North Melbourne to Hawthorn at the end of 2009. Little did he know he would go on to win three in a row.
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The defender could not stop smiling after the 46-point victory.
"They sort of dangle the premiership carrot in front of you I guess, when you want to move clubs and they got me and Shaun [Burgoyne] over that way," he said.
"To win three in a row, I couldn't have dreamt about it, we're so happy, so happy at this club."
Midfielder Liam Shiels picked up 16 possessions in the Hawks' win and described the club's third grand final win in a row as "unbelievable."
Although Hawthorn had the game in hand by half-time, Shiels said the players did not let their win begin to sink in until the last quarter.
"I ran to the bench and I got a bit of a smile from a few boys, from then it was go and enjoy the moment as much as possible," he said.
After losing to the Eagles in the first week of the finals, the Hawks players were deeply disappointed, Shiels said. "We're a pretty proud group and we rarely string poor back to back performances together," he said.
"Their key strength in their group is their midfield, so we wanted to match them in there early and we did that."
Jarryd Roughead finished the match with 26 possessions and a goal, and he attributed the dramatic turnaround against the Eagles to grand final experience, the game being held at the MCG and playing "Hawthorn footy."
Roughead said coach Alastair Clarkson had reminded the players before the game how hard they had worked to make it to the grand final and told them to enjoy the match.
Roughead endured a challenging year, missing games after he had a cancer removed from his bottom lip.
"Any time you win a premiership it's always sweet, and to be part of this group, we probably won't be able to soak it all in today, but over the next few days we'll have a bit of fun and enjoy it," he said.
Gibson said he could not have been happier for teammate Cyril Rioli to win the Norm Smith medal for best on ground.
"Last year he was battling to make the grand final side with injuries all year, he worked really hard in the off-season," he said.
"Show's you don't need to win a lot of the ball, you've just got to do important things with it."
Gibson said he was also particularly happy for Ryan Schoenmakers, who did not play in the last two premiership teams, because in 2013 he was injured and in 2014 he was dropped.
"He was fantastic, we're just rapt he got to win a premiership," he said.
