This Saturday will be the sixth time Hawthorn and Richmond have played in Round 9.

The Tigers have had the better of the previous Round 9 encounters winning four of the five.

The Hawks sole Round 9 victory against the Tigers was at Waverley in 1993. The Hawks led by 42 points at half-time, but a strong second half from Richmond cut the final margin to 10 points - 20.11.131 to 19.7.121.

Jason Dunstall kicked five goals and Darren Jarman contributed three, while the leading possession getters for the Hawks were Anthony Condon (32), Darrin Pritchard (30) and Ben Allan (28).

The four Round 9 defeats against Richmond were in 1927, 1935, 2012 and 2019.

Hawthorn’s most recent game against Richmond was in Round 23 last season and it ended in a draw. Looking to this week’s game, it is worth noting that the Hawks have a positive record in the next game against the opposition in a draw, winning seven and losing five.

Hawthorn won the next such game after the five draws it played between 1968 and 2010, but has lost its two most recent ones, to GWS in 2018 (after a 2017 draw), and to Melbourne a fortnight ago (after last season’s draw).

Hawthorn has recorded the same score in consecutive games for the second time this season. After scoring 73 in both Round 3 and Round 4, the Hawks have now kicked 11.15.81 in the past two matches, versus Melbourne and Essendon.

Only once in its VFL-AFL history has recorded the same points in consecutive games, which was in the opening three games of 2019 when the Hawks recorded 87 in three consecutive games.

With the proliferation of Sunday and Friday night games in recent decades, it is rare to find a date in the football season which has seen Hawthorn only having had Saturday games. However, this week’s game on 14 May is a date which has only had Saturday Hawthorn games.

Since Hawthorn joined the League in 1925, this will be the 15^th time the calendar has had a Saturday 14 May and Hawthorn has been fixtured to play on 14 of the 15, the one exception being 2011 when the Hawks played on the Sunday (15 May).

Of the 13 games Hawthorn has played on 14 May so far, there have been six wins and seven losses, although the Hawks have won the last three, including the most recent in 2016 against Fremantle in Launceston.

Hawthorn has had some long winning sequences against Richmond, including 16 (1985-94) and 10 (1959-64), but overall, the Hawks trail the Tigers in the head-to-head by 71 to 90, with one draw. The deficit is the result of Hawthorn losing the first 21 matches between the clubs, until the first brown and gold victory at Glenferrie in Round 16 1936.

The 2020 season’s 31-point Round 9 Hawthorn victory against Carlton at Perth Stadium ended a run of four consecutive Round 9 defeats for the Hawks. However, Hawthorn suffered another Round 9 loss last season, going down by seven points to North Melbourne at University of Tasmania Stadium.

Overall, in Round 9, Hawthorn has recorded 43 wins and 53 defeats from 96 games, having had the bye in 2014.

30 years ago, in Round 9 1992, Hawthorn and Melbourne played a very scrappy opening quarter at Waverley in which both teams only managed 1.2.8. However, from quarter time onwards, the Hawks gradually got on top, leading by 14 at half-time, 35 at the final change and running out 72-point winners – 18.12.120 to 7.6.48. Jason Dunstall kicked six goals, but the star of the day was Dean Anderson, whose 34 disposals earned him the three Brownlow votes.

40 years ago, in Round 9 1982, Hawthorn trailed Collingwood at Victoria Park at every change but, after slipping 28 points behind at one stage of the third quarter, stormed home with a 6.4 to 2.2 final term to win by 22 points – 17.12.114 to 13.14.92.

First-year Hawk Gary Buckenara kicked four goals with The Age describing him as ‘a wizard at taming the loose ball’, who was ‘at his deadliest kicking goals in the time-on periods of the second, third and last quarters’. Another first-year player, Richard Loveridge, was also in the best, along with Michael Tuck, Terry Wallace, Scott Wade and Rodney Eade.

Jason Dunstall had an amazing season against Richmond in 1992, booting a club record 17 goals in Round 7 and following it up with a further bag of 12 in Round 22.

Peter Hudson holds the Round 9 record, booting 10 in a 30-point victory over Fitzroy at Glenferrie in 1968.