Over-possessing the football will only spell trouble against Hawthorn, one of the most efficient clubs in the competition.

That’s the message emerging from defender Nick Smith in the shadow of the Swans’ blockbuster clash against the reigning premier at the MCG on Saturday.

Instead of kicking long to a potent forward line, the Swans used the football “a bit too much” during last weekend’s clash against Geelong to almost double the Cats in handballs (218-127).

It was a rare stat to come out of the Swans’ fifth win of the season. In fact, the tally marked the first time the Swans finished with more handballs than kicks since the 2013 elimination final.

Speaking to Radio Sports National, Smith mentioned the trend was noted within a team huddle during Saturday night’s game at ANZ Stadium.

“Horse mentioned at some stage that we were handballing a bit too much and we needed to get the ball into our forwards more,” Smith said.

“We’ve got a pretty dangerous forward line so there was no point mucking around with the ball.”

The reason, Smith believed, was to ensure the Swans kept possession of the football in order to find a target rather than turn the ball over to Geelong defenders.

“We tried to find that balance between not just blasting it in there and letting their defenders roll off, and actually getting it in there to give our forwards a chance,” he added.

The well-drilled Hawks were the best in the competition last season for finding a target inside forward 50 while they are currently ranked third for disposal effectiveness and rarely make a mistake to sit 15th (or fourth best) for clangers – the kind of discipline which can punish an opposition over using the football.