Hawthorn has a third goal, thanks to a perfect set shot from Nick Watson.
Watson was pulled down off the ball by Eagles defender Brandon Starcevich, which led to the free kick and set shot.
The Eagles were able to settle after conceeding two goals in the opening two minutes, but they are committing several turnovers.
WCE 1
HAW 18
It is a flying start for Hawthorn.
In his 100th AFL match, Mitch Lewis took a strong mark inside 50 and nailed the set shot.
That is two goals in as many minutes for the Hawks to start this match.
WCE 0
HAW 12
Jack Gunston's 300th AFL match has got off to the perfect start.
He takes an early mark inside 50, and nails the set shot from 35 metres, on a slight angle to the left.
WCE 0
HAW 6
The final home and away match of the 2026 AFL season begins at Perth Oval.
An embattled and understrength Sydney has beaten North Melbourne by 53 points in the Swans' first game since the sexual assault allegations that have rocked the club.
Five players — Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon — were on Wednesday suspended for the rest of the season for "breaching club standards".
The sanctions are separate to the police investigation into sexual assault allegations and the events at East Melbourne's Pullman Hotel in the early hours of Monday morning.
Those events completely overshadowed a maiden AFLW-AFL double header at the SCG — where after Sydney's women's team beat Essendon by 24 points, the men won their game 17.21 (123) to 10.10 (70).
Skipper Callum Mills and star midfielder Errol Gulden were in tears on the final siren, the emotions of the week spilling over as the crowd showed its vocal support for the club.
"Just overwhelming support is probably what got me," Mills said of his tears.
"Our fans stood by us and that's something we're extremely grateful for."
The AFLW team won in front of a record crowd of 16,672, with some fans walking out after the women's game — which had been forecast by some as a reaction to the Pullman Hotel storm.
Sydney's men won an effective dead rubber in front of 30,058 fans — the club's lowest AFL home crowd of the season, though it wasn't as low as some might have expected.
The Swans' previous low mark this year was 33,413, with every other home crowd breaching 35,000, and with six attendances of 40,000 or more.
"The girls have been unbelievable," Mills said of Sydney's AFLW side.
"It's been a hard week for the girls — and the boys and the whole club.
"And the way we stuck together, the way that our fans showed up with the double header, our girls set the tone with the way they played, and we just had to back it up, and yeah, we did."
Sydney was already locked into second place on the ladder and will face either Brisbane or Hawthorn in a home qualifying final.
While the Swans will have next weekend off during the AFL wildcard round, in reality they face two more weeks in the spotlight before the finals.
Before the game, coach Dean Cox told Fox Footy he was confident the Swans had still prepared well despite the tough week.
His undermanned side were clearly the better team and kept the Kangaroos at arm's length.
Gulden (41 disposals) stood tall along with skipper Mills (26 disposals), Brodie Grundy (26 disposals, 27 hitouts), Braeden Campbell (20 disposals and two goals) and Tom Papley.
Boom recruit Charlie Curnow kicked 3.4 to finish his first season in Sydney with 69 goals, winning his third Coleman Medal as the AFL's leading goalkicker.
Billy Cootee and Logan McDonald also kicked three goals each.
James Rowbottom, Harry Cunningham, Angus Sheldrick, Caiden Cleary and Tom Hanily were the five inclusions.
For North, former Swan Luke Parker (26 disposals) was busy along with Jy Simpkin (26) and Caleb Daniel (26), while Cam Zurhaar kicked two goals.
Sydney took the early ascendancy and shot out to a 39-point lead midway through the second quarter.
The Kangaroos responded late in the second term and in the third to claw the margin back to 21 at the final break.
Cootee kicked a settler at the start of the fourth quarter and from there the Swans cruised.
Essendon's new coach will be tasked with picking up the pieces from the worst season in the AFL club's long history after a calamitous campaign ended with a 10-point defeat to Port Adelaide.
Emerging forward Nate Caddy's career-best six-goal haul wasn't enough for the Bombers in their 16.9 (105) to 14.11 (95) defeat to the Power in the dead rubber at Docklands Stadium.
Sunday's result left wooden spooners Essendon with a 2-21 record for the year, worse than even the 2016 'top-ups' season which generated just three wins.
The Bombers also won only two games in the 1933 VFL season, though that was in a shorter 18-round home-and-away campaign.
Interim coach Dean Solomon will hand the reins to a new full-time appointment in the coming days, with Essendon looking to usher in a new era and climb off the bottom of the ladder.
"It's going to take a bit of time and I know that patience isn't a thing that we've all got at the moment due to the last 15-20 years, but we are absolutely on the right path as a football club," Solomon said.
"To see Caddy perform the way he did today and a handful of those other young kids … I keep saying it, another 40-60 games and it's going to be really exciting.
"It's going to be hard work individually and collectively, and there's no short cuts, but we are on the right path."
That future may not include former captain Zach Merrett, who tallied a game-high 32 disposals and a goal against Port amid speculation he could again attempt to force a trade.
Essendon held Merrett to his contract when he tried to join Hawthorn last year.
"Ultimately that will be his decision and a lot of that will play out over the coming month," Solomon said.
"From a personal point of view I hope he's going to stay and he gets what he deserves at the end of his career."
Caddy shone in attack but Port had their own star at the other end as stand-in captain Mitch Georgiades kicked five goals.
Mitch Zadow and Jack Whitlock added two important goals each in the second half, while Jase Burgoyne (30 touches, two goals) and veteran Ollie Wines (27, one) were also key contributors in a tight game.
The victory gave the 15th-placed Power a 7-16 record in Josh Carr's first season as coach since taking over from long-time mentor Ken Hinkley.
"It's been an enjoyable year," Carr said.
"The last five weeks have had challenges and that's predominantly around personnel.
"The silver lining to that is there are guys getting games into them against really good teams and getting feedback on the difference between the two sides.
"Whether the year's a success, I think that's determined by the future."
Port led Essendon by 22 points before half-time but found itself in a battle when Caddy dragged the home side back into the contest.
The Power scored freely from centre-bounce as a last-quarter shootout unfolded, with the lead changing hands five times for the term.
Merrett looked to have kicked the match-winner when he converted a free kick with less than two minutes left, before Georgiades hit back with a calm set shot and then helped set up the sealer for Whitlock.
Will Setterfield (32 touches) and Archie Roberts (27) were busy for Essendon, as was captain Andrew McGrath (25) in his 200th game.
A top four spot is still on the line for the Hawks.
The simple equation is win, and they jump Geelong into the top four.
If they then stay fourth, they will return to Perth in a fortnight to face minor premiers Fremantle.
Should they smash West Coast this afternoon and leapfrog the Brisbane Lions to third, then they will head to Sydney to face a Swans side reeling from this week's scandal.
So how can the Hawks finish third?
Well, they have to win, and win big.
Brisbane's percentage if 121.7, while the Hawks enter tonight's match with a percentage of 117.3.
In simple terms, the Hawks would have to win by about 90 points to be a chance. But the amount Hawthorn must win by depends on how many points the Eagles can score.
Anyway, if we get close to 90 points, we can get the calculators out. Well short of 90, don't worry about it.
Lose, and they remain in sixth and would face an elimination final date with any one of the wild card teams - the Blues, Magpies, Bulldogs or Demons - depending on how those games play out.
We're about half an hour from the finale to the home and away season in Perth.
Both the Eagles and Hawks are set to line up as originally selected.
West Coast has made one change to last week's side with Bo Allan replacing the injured Liam Duggan.
Hawthorn has also made one change to last week's side with Jack Dalton replacing the injured Jack Ginnivan.
In more Sydney-adjacent news, it appears Swans assistant Mark McVeigh is set to be named Essendon's next coach, according to multiple reports.
McVeigh has been in the running alongside James Hird, Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham and Adelaide assistant Murray Davis in the Bombers' long-running process.
If McVeigh is indeed announced as the man for the top job, I wonder what the reaction is going to be from the section of Essendon's fans that were hellbent on Hird returning.
Will Hird be involved with the club in some other capacity?
All will be revealed this week.
These are some really powerful photos coming through from the SCG.
You can see some of the longest-tenured Swans such as defender Dane Rampe appear to be the most upset by what's happened this week.
The Swans have showed today why they're one of the premiership favourites, even with some of their best players suspended.
In the absence of the banned quintet, the Swans needed their leaders to stand up, and my goodness they did that.
Errol Gulden finished with 41 disposals, 10 inside 50s, eight score involvements and 1,055m gained.
Brodie Grundy racked up 26 disposals, 27 hitouts, nine score involvements and seven clearances.
Sydney captain Callum Mills picked up 26 disposals, six score involvements and six intercepts.
James Rowbottom, on his return to the side, finished with 19 disoposals and 12 tackles.
Charlie Curnow finished with 3.4 and 15 disposals to go along with six marks.
Really gutsy stuff.
Errol Gulden is hitting his straps ahead of the finals, and my goodness will the Swans need him or what?
Gulden is up to 41 disposals and six clearances now, and it comes after he racked up a career-high 47 touches against the Dons last week.
It is the third time this season that Gulden has grabbed 40 touches or more.
Gulden has also racked up 1,055m gained after breaching the kilometre mark last week as well.
He is the first player in league history since metres gained started being tracked to rack up over 1,000m in consecutive games.
What a player.
Nick Larkey narrowly misses a set shot to the left, again one that he would've kicked blindfolded a few years back.
We're almost there folks. Into the final two minutes in this one.
Dean Cox is looking a relieved man in the coaches box.
Logan McDonald drills a set shot from close range after winning a free kick for holding the man.
McDonald has two for the day and the Swans have pushed the lead to 54 points.
Dylan Stephens, a former Swan, gets an applause as he jogs off the ground after being shaken up in a big contest.
It looks like Stephens's head might have hit the turf, so I doubt we'll see him again.
Just seven minutes left in this one, Swans by 48 points.
I'm really interested to see what the scenes are like after the final siren.
