Beat me to itI think you have this the wrong way around. Northball, or whatever you want to call it, had no chance of standing up in finals. It requires too much precision in disposal, invites pressure, and you get punished for every mistake.
Hawthorn's style is a development on that which won Richmond three flags. Both require a gang of hard running small forwards. Instead of Richmond's forward handball into space, Hawthorn are using the width of the ground and diagonal kicks into space. Both create chaos and are hard to defend against while allowing time for you to set up behind the ball if you turn it over. It should be fine. Though I hope the Dogs beat them.