The Swans led by four points early in the final term after trailing by as much as 24 in the second quarter, but couldn't quite close the deal against last year's premiers to lose 12.14 (86) to 11.9 (75).
A brain-fade by Barry Hall in the fourth stanza saw the momentum shift and the crowd get involved, with the tempestuous forward giving away three 50m penalties in one incident.
Hall gave away a free kick deep in the Swans' forward 50, before he lost his cool and gave away the 50m penalties.
The result was a Hawthorn shot on goal, which Roughead converted to give his side a 10-point lead.
Adam Goodes did everything he could to save the game with a major and a behind after Roughead's goal, but the Hawks bravely hung on.
In an additional blow to the Swans, defender Craig Bolton injured his knee in the dying stages of the game.
Goodes was the Swans' best with 23 touches – 13 contested – and Ryan O'Keefe was terrific with 26 disposals, seven clearances and seven inside 50s.
Darren Jolly dominated the ruck with 35 hit-outs, while Jude Bolton and Jarrad McVeigh were also influential in the contested balls stakes, which the Swans won 129 to 111.
Hawthorn was forced to restructure its defence after losing Campbell Brown (corked thigh) and Tom Murphy (illness) before the bounce.
The loss of the two backmen saw ruckman Robert Campbell take Hall and a combination of Brent Guerra and Stuart Dew face Michael O'Loughlin.
In the first half, the set-up worked for the Hawks with Hall touching the ball just seven times for one goal, and O'Loughlin eight for no score.
However, the loss of Cyril Rioli to a hamstring in the first term hurt the home side, with the livewire missing almost the entire game.
A shower of rain before the bounce changed the dynamics of the match, and consequently, not many goals came from marks in the first half.
Craig Bolton faced off with Buddy Franklin and kept him to two first-half goals and three for the game, while Lewis Roberts-Thomson went to Roughead and limited him to three for the afternoon.
Mark Williams got away from Ted Richards early and the former Bomber was replaced by Paul Bevan in the second half, who fared better and kept him to three goals.
Despite the dampness, the first term saw plenty of scoring opportunities but the Hawks used theirs better to take a 12-point lead into the second.
With the game being played at ground level, contests between Sam Mitchell and Brett Kirk, and Jordan Lewis and O'Keefe became important.
Mitchell won the clearance battle in the first half and was supported closely by Lewis, but O'Keefe gave his side opportunities up forward with five inside 50s.
The close-to-the-ground, stoppage-happy type of match suited the Swans, but they lacked potency up forward and allowed the Hawks to increase their quarter-time lead of 12 points to 16 in time for the main break.
After a tense second term where the match went without a score for the first 12 minutes, the Swans were more direct and effective in front in the third and got the first goal quickly through O'Loughlin.
They backed it up with another through Goodes, but a collection of behinds and back-to-back goals to Franklin and Ellis denied the Swans the lead.
Goals to Kirk and Hall as the term wound down had the Swans just 10 points in arrears with a quarter to go.
A goal to Jolly – who recovered from a clash with Ryan Schoenmakers in the third– was the first of the fourth two minutes in, and Goodes gave the Swans the lead soon after with another before Hall's indiscretion changed the pace of the game.
Hawthorn 4.5 7.5 9.11 12.14 (86)
Sydney Swans 2.5 4.7 8.7 11.9 (75)
GOALS
Hawthorn: Franklin 3, Roughead 3, Williams 3, Ellis 2, Mitchell
Sydney Swans: Goodes 3, Hall 2, Mattner, McVeigh, J. Bolton, O'Loughlin, Kirk, Jolly
BEST
Hawthorn: Mitchell, Sewell, Ellis, Hodge, Campbell, Guerra, Franklin
Sydney Swans: Goodes, O'Keefe, J. Bolton, Jolly, McVeigh, Mattner, C. Bolton
INJURIES
Hawthorn: Brown (corked thigh) out, replaced in selected side by Tuck, Murphy (illness) out, replaced in selected side by Schoenmakers, Rioli (hamstring), Ellis (cut lip)
Sydney Swans: C. Bolton (twisted knee), Crouch (knocked knee)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Donlon, Vozzo, Hendrie
Official crowd: 44,464 at the MCG
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs.
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