As he prepares for his fourth grand final and potentially his third premiership, the 26-year-old from Devonport admitted this one would be the sweetest.

If successful, the Hawks will become the 17th team to win back-to-back flags, with another four having gone the ‘‘three-peat’’ and the Collingwood team of 1927-1930 unique in winning four, since the competition began in 1897.

It comes after a season that has been punctuated by long-term injuries, suspensions and illness to coach Alastair Clarkson

‘‘Once you have been there and done that [won a premiership], it is just an amazing feeling, and you just want it all the time, so that’s the main driving force,’’ Birchall said yesterday.

‘‘Not many sides have gone back-to-back in VFL-AFL history and we want to be one of those sides, and we think we are worthy and capable of doing that.

‘‘We’ve had to face a fair bit this year, and if we happen to get over the line, I think it will be the best one.’’

To do this, the 193-game player admitted there were lessons to be learnt from Saturday’s great escape against Port Adelaide.

But overall, he believed that hitout would provide the perfect preparation for a rematch with the Swans, who defeated the Hawks in the 2012 grand final.

This time they have Birchall’s great mate Lance Franklin in their line-up.

‘‘We understand in finals against good quality opposition that it is going to ebb and flow quite a bit throughout games, and you just have to make the most of your opportunities, and I thought we did that on Saturday,’’ he said.

‘‘Everyone is going to put their body on the line, and it will be high pressure tempo footy, and we’ll try to do the same thing to the Swans.’’

The 14th pick in the 2005 national draft admitted the Hawks would go in as underdogs, a tag he’s happy to wear against the minor premiers.

‘‘We’ll back ourselves in, as we have a pretty good recent record against the Swans and we enjoy playing at the MCG.

‘‘They have a pretty formidable forward line with some big brutes up there, but we are just going to have to fight our way through it.

‘‘If they get first use of it in the middle, they can really cut us up and do some damage, so we will rely on some midfield pressure, which will help us defenders.

‘‘It’s going to be hot early, but we’ve just got to make sure we remain composed and just stick to our system and the resilience that we have shown all year.’’

Hawthorn and Sydney have split their two meetings this year.

The Swans won the first at ANZ Stadium in round 8 by 19 points, before the Hawks came from behind in round 18 at the MCG to win by 10 points, ending the Swans’ 12-game winning streak.