The question of whether the Hawks can exceed Geelong, by taking the tiebreaking fourth flag, is a fascinating one. Only one club - the Lethal Lions of 2001-2003 - have managed the three-peat since the 1950s. For the clubs who have scaled the highest peak, the third consecutive flag is like doing it without oxygen.

Hawthorn acknowledges that 2015 will be tougher than 2014, when it was tested by all manner of adversities and came through. The Hawks believe that some of these challenges and crises actually worked in their favour - the veterans injured mid-season such as Sam Mitchell, Josh Gibson and Brian Lake were spared punishment, while the grounding of Alastair Clarkson to Guillain-Barre syndrome gave the players more responsibility and a different voice and freshened up the coach.

Hawthorn won the grand final by hunting the Swans, and the aggressive psychology seemed important. It was a rare opportunity for the benchmark to be the predator. The Hawks also know that this second flag will merely enlarge the bullseye on their collective heads.

"I just think in this competition, it is so competitive," said president Andrew Newbold. "Of course, we'll reload and we'll try and get better. But there are other clubs now … if we thought we were the hunted this year, imagine what we're going to be next year." Port Adelaide is an obvious threat, the bloodied Bloods have the talent to rebound, and others will try to muscle into the top four.

Hawthorn chief executive Stuart Fox said the next premiership was always harder. "I think it's something Clarko will put a lot of thought into in the next few weeks … what Clarko's done over 10 years is just to continue to reinvigorate himself and the way he coaches and all the other people around him too. So I've just got no doubt he'll go again, he'll make sure everyone freshens up.

"I think the organisation is really resilient … we had a lot of player issues with injury, and then we had Clarko but I really, you know, the morning we were made aware of Clarko's illness, I really felt the organisation lift. There was two groups that really lifted - our footy department and the administrators within the footy department, the coaches. But the leadership group really lifted and it was almost like a challenge."

The influence of older players and leaders were paramount in Hawthorn's premiership. Luke Hodge, 30, Sam Mitchell, 32, Shaun Burgoyne, 32, and Jordan Lewis, 28, were the Four Horsemen of Sydney's apocalypse. They took command in the formative first half.

Brian Lake, who wants to play on but whose position remains unclear, held up well in defence. The Hawks are still awaiting word on James Frawley's intentions for next year, a decision that has ramifications for Lake, who otherwise would be short odds to continue. Football boss Chris Fagan said Lake "was important to us in the latter part of the year".

Hawthorn's management of its senior players has been a cornerstone of the premiership, just as it was critical to Geelong in 2011. To manage a three-peat, or even get close, the Hawks will need to keep the bodies of those veterans in working order again; we need not worry about their minds - the Horsemen have the same relentless commitment of Matthew Scarlett, Cameron Ling, Paul Chapman and company.

"Our goal as a footy club will be to manage them well and to get as many years out of them as we can," Fagan said of Hodge and his fellow veterans. "They want to play for as long as they can and as long as they're producing what they produced yesterday … all they know is if they perform, we'll look after them."

If Brad Sewell shapes as a likely retirement and Lake's position requires clarification, the Hawks will look to promote younger legs - notably the lightning Billy Hartung and James Sicily - in the same way that Brad Hill and Liam Shiels changed the midfield mix over the past two seasons.

In 2014, they lost Buddy, the coach for five weeks, had a truckload of midyear casualties. Yet, a month before the finals, the fog was lifting. On grand final day, they had nearly every player available. The Hawks seemed to enjoy this premiership more than last year's. Last year, they couldn't afford to lose. This year, they dared to win.