Hawthorn experienced an average start to the year, with a record of 4–4 after eight matches (including losses to non-finals teams Essendon, Port Adelaide and Greater Western Sydney), but lost just twice more for the remainder of the regular season to finish in the top three for the fifth consecutive year.

[2] Similar to previous grand finals, the grand final provided both pre-match and post-match entertainment, with English singer Ellie Goulding, Canadian musician Bryan Adams and American musician Chris Isaak performing on the day.

[7] For the first time, the day before the grand final was declared a public holiday in Victoria by the incoming Daniel Andrews government, as promised during the campaigning for the 2014 Victorian state election.

Meanwhile, the Eagles wasted opportunities, with Shuey ignoring a handball to an open Jamie Cripps in front of goal in preference to a dribbled kick that missed.

At quarter time, Hawthorn 5.0 (30) led West Coast 1.5 (11) by 19 points, despite having fewer scoring shots.

[12] The Eagles continued to waste opportunities, with captain Shannon Hurn hitting the post from directly in front of goals at the six-minute mark.

Darling kicked the first goal of the third quarter for the Eagles in the 5th minute, before the Eagles squandered two good opportunities inside forward 50: one when Shuey turned the ball over by kick when he had a handball option available, and one when Darling dropped a simple chest mark which would have resulted in a set shot.

[14] Hawthorn then dominated the latter half of the third quarter, kicking four goals in twelve minutes to extend the lead to a match-winning 50 points.

Hawthorn full-back Brian Lake made a diving smother to prevent a certain Josh Hill goal for the Eagles soon after.

[16] The next fifteen minutes of the term were goalless before the Eagles added three goals in time-on (one to Mark LeCras and two to Jeremy McGovern) to reduce the final margin to 46 points.

[12] Hawthorn dominated the key statistical indicators across the ground, winning inside 50s 59–40, contested possessions 136–120, overall disposals 436–321 and tackles 59–45.

[12] Hawthorn's goalkicking was very accurate when the game was still in the balance – at one point its score was 16.5 (101) to West Coast's 5.11 (41), before adding six behinds late in the final quarter.

Hawthorn made one change to its lineup from the previous week's preliminary final, with Jack Gunston returning from an ankle injury and Billy Hartung omitted.

The match commentary was conducted by Bruce McAvaney and Dennis Cometti for the Seven Network, marking the duo's seventh grand final appearance together as commentators since 2008 and their eleventh overall.

[31] A total of 2,640,000 people across the two channels watched the match, making the Grand Final the most viewed television broadcast of the day.