Hawthorn is still looking for its 1000^th VFL-AFL win, having been stuck on 999 wins for a couple of weeks. However, it seems unlikely that the Hawks will stay on 999 for as long as they remained on 99 wins.

Hawthorn recorded its 99^th win in Round 17 1949. It then lost the final two games of that 19-game season, all 18 games in 1950 and the opening two games of 1951 before finally winning again in Round 3 1951.

This made it a 22-game losing sequence, stretching almost 21 months from August 1949 to May 1951 and all the while stuck on 99 wins. It meant that Hawthorn did not record its 100^th victory until its 27^th season in the competition.

However, since beginning the 1951 season with the win tally still under 100, the Hawks have won a further 900 games in 72 seasons, including an astonishing 13 Premierships, well ahead of the next highest in that period, Carlton and Richmond both with eight.

This dramatic change in fortune was helped in great measure by the arrival in the team of such Hawthorn greats as John Kennedy Snr. and Roy Simmonds in 1950, and John O’Mahony in 1951.

Hawthorn has an outstanding overall record against Fremantle, leading the head-to-head 28-11 after 39 games.

So strong is Hawthorn's record that the current losing sequence of three against Fremantle is the longest in history. In contrast, Hawthorn has had three sequences of six consecutive wins against Fremantle. The Hawks recorded the first of these from 1998 to 2001, the second from 2011 to 2014 (including the 2013 Grand Final) and the most recent from 2015 to 2019 (including the 2015 Preliminary Final).

This Saturday’s game will be Hawthorn’s seventh match at Optus Stadium. The Hawks currently have a 3-3 record at the venue, having won their first three games there against three different opponents – Fremantle (2018), West Coast (2019) and Carlton (2020), before losing their next three, including a 15-point loss to the Dockers in the most recent visit in Round 4 last season.

With Sam Frost missing last Sunday’s game due to suspension, it ended the then longest current sequence of consecutive Hawthorn games at 36. The mantle of most current consecutive games now passes to Blake Hardwick who has played the last 17 matches. Just past the half-way point of the 2022 season, Hardwick is one of just four Hawthorn players who have played every game this season, along with James Sicily, Dylan Moore, and Jai Newcombe.

Hawthorn’s most recent game on the Monday of the Queen’s Birthday long weekend was in 1995, against Sydney at Waverley and resulted in a comfortable Hawthorn win – 17.11.113 to 9.17.71. The highlight of the game was Shayne Stevenson kicking a goal while hobbling on one leg. He had a good excuse to be hobbling as the leg was subsequently confirmed as being broken.

In the 1980s, Hawthorn played Collingwood at Waverley twice on the Queen’s Birthday Monday drawing a record crowd of 92,935 in 1981 and 62,339 in 1984. In 1985, Hawthorn played a memorable draw at the MCG against North Melbourne on the holiday Monday, in a game which saw John Kennedy Snr. coach against the Hawks for the first time.

The Hawks have played 95 matches in Round 13 for 44 wins, 50 defeats and one draw (in 1926) and two byes. Hawthorn had an unbeaten run of seven wins and two byes in Round 13 from 2010 to 2018.

Last season in Round 13, Hawthorn recorded a stunning upset 38-point win against Sydney at the SCG – 14.5.89 to 7.9.51. The was game highlighted by Jai Newcombe’s 14-tackle debut. The Brownlow votes went to Tom Mitchell, Changkuoth Jiath and Jaeger O’Meara.

20 years ago, in Round 13 2002, Hawthorn defeated St Kilda by nine points at Docklands – 13.9.87 to 11.12.78. The stars for the Hawks were Nathan Thompson with seven goals and Richie Vandenberg who had a career-high 34 disposals.

30 years ago, in Round 13 1992, Hawthorn comfortably accounted for Fitzroy by 56 points at Waverley – 22.13.145 to 13.11.89. Jason Dunstall kicked seven goals and James Morrissey contributed four, with the three Brownlow votes going to Darren Jarman for a 34-disposal game.

50 years ago, in Round 13 1972, Hawthorn thrashed North Melbourne by 64 points at Glenferrie – 21.14.140 to 10.16.76. It was a day-out for the Hawks’ two blond Peters with Peter Knights kicking eight goals and taking 14 marks, while Peter Crimmins booted five goals and had 22 kicks.

90 years ago, in Round 13 1932, Hawthorn turned around a 10-point half-time deficit to defeat St Kilda by 11 points at Glenferrie – 8.13.61 to 7.8.50. The Age reported that the best features of the game included were the ‘ruckwork and high marking of Hawthorn’. Bob Hammond, who kicked three goals, was rated Hawthorn’s best. The one lowlight was a further injury to Jack Sharpley, who had not played since winning the 1930 best and fairest, carried from field with a ‘ricked knee’. He did not play at League level again.

Mark Williams holds the record for most goals by a Hawthorn player against the Dockers, kicking eight against them in Round 1 2006 in Launceston.

Peter Hudson and Jason Dunstall share the Round 13 goal-kicking record, with Hudson booting nine against Fitzroy in 1971, which Dunstall equaled against Geelong in 1988. They are followed by bags of eight from Peter Knights (1972), Mike Moncrieff (1980) and Simon Minton-Connell (1995).