Two players Hawthorn struggled to find room for in their team or salary cap now loom as major threats to them staying alive in the AFL finals, says midfield star Sam Mitchell.

Ahead of the Hawks' cut-throat semi-final against Sydney at the MCG on Friday night, Mitchell nominated former Hawthorn fringe players Josh Kennedy and Ben McGlynn as two Swans danger men.

Both were granted trades to Sydney in search of greater opportunity at the end of 2009, after McGlynn played just 44 games in four seasons with the Hawks and Kennedy 13 matches in two years.

McGlynn, who has done excellent midfield jobs on the likes of Geelong's Joel Selwood and St Kilda's Leigh Montagna in recent weeks, could well take on Mitchell on Friday night.

But Mitchell said Hawthorn would put plenty of their own planning in how to stop McGlynn and Kennedy, given their recent midfield influence.

"We might be playing on them, I think, they had pretty good games against us last time, so they're certainly two of the guys that we need to keep an eye on this week," Mitchell said.

"They're really good blokes, Joey Kennedy and Ben McGlynn, we'll spend a bit of time on those guys.

"It's a really quality midfield and some strong bodies and they're hard to move around.

"We need to play a fair bit better than we did on Friday night (against Geelong) if we are to get any further in this finals series."

Kennedy is virtual Hawthorn royalty, as the grandson of legendary player and coach John Kennedy Sr and the son of four-time Hawks premiership player John Kennedy Jr.

But Mitchell said no one at Hawthorn begrudged the pair what has proved a good career move by joining the Swans, where they have become integral to the team.

"When guys leave your club you want them to go well," he said.

"We'd probably love to have them with us, but not everyone can fit into the salary cap and not everyone can fit into a position on the ground.

"I think it's been win-win for everyone, I think Hawthorn has done pretty well out of the deals and certainly those two guys and the Sydney footy club have done well out of the deals.

"It's good to see your mates go and play good footy."

The Hawks received draft picks 46 and 70 for McGlynn, which they used to draft Ben Stratton and upgrade Matt Suckling from their rookie list, while the pick 39 received for Kennedy was used on developing ruckman Sam Grimley.

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