This round marks the 40th anniversary of Gary Ablett Snr’s debut for Hawthorn.

Ironically, given subsequent history, it was against Geelong when the Hawks selected Gary Ablett (wearing number 35) for his first game, to join his brother Geoff in the line-up for the Princes Park encounter.

Both teams were coming off Round 1 wins, but Geelong’s had been the more spectacular having thrashed Collingwood. This, combined with the fact the Cats had finished third compared to the Hawks’ sixth in 1981, meant Geelong was the clear favourite.

After a dominant first half in which they restricted Geelong to just 2.5, the Hawks had to survive a fightback which saw the margin cut to just three points early in the last quarter. Hawthorn steadied to win 13.19.97 to 11.12.78, with Leigh Matthews and Terry Wallace both kicking three goals. Wallace (33 kicks and 5 handballs) was rated equal best-on-ground with ruckman, Ian Paton (33 hit outs and 10 marks).

The Age reported that ‘the victory was especially satisfying for Hawthorn’, pointing out that ‘it was achieved at a time when some people are predicting a rapid decline for the club and against a club which was being touted as joint favourites for the premiership’. It commented that Geelong had been unable to respond to the ‘ferocity’ of Hawthorn’s approach.  

Gary Ablett played six games for Hawthorn in 1982 and then, after not playing in 1983,moved to Geelong in 1984 where he earned a reputation as one of the greats of the game. Having played in a win in his sole game for Hawthorn against Geelong, he then played 18 times against Hawthorn, only managing three wins, as the Hawks sustained their dominance over Geelong through the 1980s and 1990s.

Last Sunday’s debutants, Max Lynch, Connor Macdonald, and Josh Ward became Hawthornplayers 949, 950 and 951 respectively.

Lynch became the first player born on 12 September to represent the club since David Parkin, born on that date some 56 years earlier. Ward joins Premiership players Kelvin Moore and Ken Judge as Hawks born on 15 August, while Macdonald follows in the footsteps of Ron Beattie (9 games, 1974) as players to come to Hawthorn from Doveton.

With Ben McEvoy and Luke Breust missing, Hawthorn’s Round 1 team contained only two premiership players – Jack Gunston and Liam Shiels. Given the frequency of Hawthorn Premierships, there are only two previous occasions when Hawthorn has begun a season seven years after winning a flag – 1968 and 1998. In both these cases, there were also two Premiership players in the Round 1 team. In Round 1 1968, the two 1961 Premiership players were Graham Arthur and Reg Poole; in Round 1 1998, the remaining 1991 Flag-winners were Jason Dunstall and Stephen Lawrence.

Having an acting captain in Round 1, as Jaeger O’Meara was last Sunday, has been quite common in recent Hawthorn history. Remarkably, Luke Hodge did not play in Round 1 in any of his first three seasons as captain – 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Hawthorn’s biggest win in its history was against Port Adelaide, by 165 points at the MCG in 2011. In contrast, five games between the Hawks and Power have been decided by six points or fewer, with Hawthorn winning three of them, all by three points – the 2001 Semi Final, the 2014 Preliminary Final and Round 11 2018. Overall, Hawthorn has won 16 and lost 21 of its 37 matches against Port.

The teams have met five times at the Adelaide Oval with the Hawks winning just once, a 22-point victory in Round 16 2016. In contrast Hawthorn has a positive 4-1 record against the Crows at Adelaide Oval, but the overall record is in deficit due to a 1-2 record in three ‘neutral’ games there in 2020.

Hawthorn’s success against North Melbourne made it five consecutive Round 1 wins from 2018 to 2022. Only two players - Jaeger O’Meara and Liam Shiels – appeared in all five of the victories. However, several other current players – Luke Breust, Jack Gunston, Blake Hardwick, Daniel Howe, Ben McEvoy, Tom Mitchell and James Sicily – appeared in Round 1 2018, but all have missed at least one Round 1 game over the subsequent four seasons. 

A young reader of the column has pointed out that the past two seasons have seen 41-point Round 1 turnarounds as last season the Hawks came from 40 points down to defeat Essendon by one point and then this season came back from a 21-point deficit to record a 20-point win against North Melbourne.

This Sunday, Hawthorn will be endeavouring to win the opening two games of the season for just the sixth time in the last 30 years. Previous seasons in that period when the Hawks have done so were 1993, 2001, 2008, 2014 and 2018. Round 2 has historically been one of the Hawthorn’s poorer rounds, with only 39 wins, one draw and 57 losses.

50 years ago, in Round 2 1972, Hawthorn made light of the absence of the injured Peter Hudson by thrashing North Melbourne at Arden Street by 62 points – 19.24.138 to 11.10.76. Leigh Matthews kicked eight goals and Bob Keddie booted four.

60 years ago, in Round 2 1962, Hawthorn returned to its flag-winning form of the previous season with a 12-point victory over Collingwood at Glenferrie. A crowd of 23,500 saw the Hawks 13.9.87 defeat the Magpies 10.15.75, with Kevin Connell kicking five goals and Morton Browne four. John Peck was rated best-on-ground.

Lance Franklin’s eight goals at the MCG in 2011 is the highest tally by a Hawthorn player against Port Adelaide. Jason Dunstall holds the Hawthorn Round 2 record, kicking nine twice – in 1988 versus Richmond and in 1991 against Sydney