Stuart Dew is a Port Adelaide life member, who came out of retirement to help Hawthorn win the AFL premiership four years ago.

In Saturday’s grand final he’ll be plotting the downfall of many of his former teammates as an assistant coach with Sydney.

“It’s funny how the world works,” Dew said on Wednesday.

“I still speak to a few of them, but the phone’s gone quiet in the last seven days. It’s all business and then we’ll talk about it afterwards.”

The Swans have a proud recent history of making the most of interstate migration, and it extends off the field with the likes of Dew.

Shortly after ending his 206-game career in 2009, Dew made contact with Peter Jonas, an assistant coach with Sydney at the time.

It was a connection he’d made at SANFL club Central Districts en route to an AFL flag with Port Adelaide in 2004, and one that proved beneficial.

“He gave Roosy (coach Paul Roos) a call, and I followed up with Roosy. The club was good enough to give me a foot in the door as a development coach.”

Dew, well qualified to chart Hawthorn’s development since winning their last flag, regards defence as the key to their place in the grand final.

“A lot (has changed). That was four years ago and footy in general has changed. Clarko (coach Alastair Clarkson) has done a really good job – their gameplan is totally different,” he said.

“In four years, the club has got a different look.

“The stars haven’t changed, if anything they’ve improved. They’ve got another 40 or 50 games in them.

“They’re a super talented side … probably the difference between this year and the last few years, is they’ve had a really settled back six and just an even contribution.”

As Sydney’s stoppages coach, Dew knows his work will be crucial on Saturday.

“You try and keep it as business as usual. The Hawks have no weakness at the stoppages.

“Like any quality team, if you give them a five-minute window – like you saw against Adelaide, they piled on four quick goals.”