NICK Malceski admits he never really had control of the ball and he didn't hit it flush, but his goal to seal the 2012 Grand Final will go down as the sweetest kick of his career.

With the Swans desperately hanging on to a four-point lead inside the last minute of the thrilling Grand Final against the Hawks, Lewis Jetta's long set shot fell short at the city end and the ball was bounced 20m out from goal with 50 seconds left on the clock.

As the clock started again with the bounce, Daniel Hannebery managed to secure the hotly contested loose ball, shoot a handball at Malceski's head and the Swans' veteran did the rest.

"If you look at the replay I think I fumbled it a fair bit … it wasn't quite in my hands and I kicked it out of mid-air," Malceski said of his left-foot snap with 42 seconds remaining.

"It went high and I was hoping it was going to make the distance. Once it did I knew there wasn't much time to go and we were up by 10 points so I just went nuts.

"I don't know what I was doing down in the forward 50 - there was a bit of traffic around. John Blakey, my defensive coach, tells me not to go in the forward 50, but I'm sure he's happy that I went in there today.

"In '06 I kicked the last goal and we lost by a point, so to kick the last goal when we won by 10 points is unbelievable.

"It was good kicking the sealer."

It was a big day for Malceski who also kicked the Swans' opening goal of the match - another floating left-foot snap, pressed hard up against the boundary at the other end of the ground.

"I've got no idea how that one went through," he said.

"I was having a shot and it worked pretty well. I think it was in row six, but it swung in there."

Malceski said he was "unbelievably proud" of his teammates and was especially happy for Ted Richards, Jarrad McVeigh and Rhyce Shaw, who weren't part of the 2005 premiership team and played in the losing Grand Final of 2006.

The win is particularly sweet for Malceski who has battled knee injuries throughout his career. He has undergone three knee reconstructions - two on the right and one on the left - including LARS surgery that he said saved his career.

"It wasn't really a gamble for me," he said of the decision to go with LARS surgery.

"The first time I did my knee I was out for a whole year and I did it again early the second time.

"Dr Nathan Gibbs has been unbelievable and he said to me that we've got another option - we've been overseas and checked out this other way that keeps you out for three months.

"I just said, 'Yep let's do it'. We went through all the pros and cons and I reckon if I didn't get that done my career would be over.

"But I could not give a rats about my knees at the moment - all I'm worried about is the cup and this medallion."