HAWTHORN hard-man Brad Sewell says his team is enjoying its tough opening to the 2012 season ahead of a battle against the unbeaten Swans on Sunday.

The Hawks have played 2011 finalists Collingwood, Geelong, West Coast and now the Swans in the opening five rounds, but the Club isn’t complaining.

“You want to play the best sides week in, week out and we’ve had that for the last month - and we’ve e got another couple of tough ones coming up,” Sewell said at the Ricoh Centre on Monday.

“You get a very good idea of where you’re at from an early start and it gives you a chance to test your game plan in a sense.”

One of the Swans’ biggest strengths is their capacity to win the contested ball combined with their ability to clear the ball from stoppages, ranked second and third in the competition respectively.

“They’re exceptional and their players (in the midfield) are playing particularly well at the moment," he said.

"They’ve got a terrific on-ball brigade and they just have a crack every time so it’ll be a big game."

Despite the loss to the Eagles on Saturday night, Sewell says the Hawks have learnt valuable lessons, and are proud of the effort against the top of the table Eagles.

“We had a genuine crack, both sides really put it on the line and we certainly left it all out there,” he said.

“We were probably a little bit disappointed at times with the way that we set up, we felt that we could have done that a little bit better but our effort and endeavor was 'A' class.

“You need to take those opportunities (in front of goal) when you get them and neither side could do that so whether it was the conditions, or whether it was the pressure I’m not sure.”

Spearhead Lance Franklin was penalised seven times by the umpires on Saturday night, but his aggression and desire to win the football is held in high esteem by his teammates.

“That’s one of his greatest strengths - his ability to aggressively run at the ball,” Sewell said.

“You don’t want to take that aggression out of his game so it’s a bit of a line ball.”

Skipper Luke Hodge has missed the opening four rounds of the season, but is a chance to return against the unbeaten Swans at Aurora Stadium on Sunday.

“Hopefully he’ll get through training and if he does that well enough up to the medicos standards, then he’ll certainly be pushing (for selection).”

Kate Salemme is a member of Hawthorn Football Club’s Digital media team reporting exclusively for hawthornfc.com.au from the Ricoh Centre.