This Sunday, Hawthorn will be trying to record six consecutive Round 1 victories for just the second time in club history.

The wins against Collingwood (2018), Adelaide (2019), Brisbane Lions (2020), Essendon (2021) and North Melbourne (2022) have put the current Hawks behind only the 1990s Hawks who won six consecutive Round 1 games from 1992 to 1997.

Interestingly, only four members of the team which began the current winning sequence in Round 1 2018 remain at the club – Luke Breust, Blake Hardwick, Jarman Impey and James Sicily.

It is a tribute to Hawthorn’s tremendous modern era record that James Sicily becomes just the fourth person to be appointed captain of the club in the last 60 years who has assumed the position without being a Hawthorn Premiership player. The other three in that category were Shane Crawford (1999), Richie Vandenberg (2005) and Sam Mitchell (2008). Let’s hope that Sicily joins Crawford and Mitchell in subsequently becoming a Premiership player.

Sicily will also be hoping to make it a hat-trick of successes for newly appointed captains, following wins in debuts as appointed captain by Ben Stratton (2019) and Ben McEvoy (2021). In fact, 13 of the last 15 appointed captains have begun with wins, a sequence dating back to David Parkin leading the Hawks to victory in Round 1 1969. It is worth noting that Luke Hodge missed Round 1 of 2011, when Hawthorn lost, and thus his first outing as appointed captain was Round 2 when the Hawks won, allowing him to  join the illustrious list of debutant captain winners.

50 years apart, in 1971 and 2021, Hawthorn recorded memorable Round 1 wins against this week’s opponent Essendon.

In Round 1 1971, the Hawks defeated the Bombers at Windy Hill by 24 points - 13.18.96 to 10.12.72. In warm, sunny autumn conditions, a crowd of 19,214 saw Hawthorn take a nine-point quarter-time lead. Essendon then opened a fiery second quarter with a burst of three quick goals to grab a nine-point lead before Peter Hudson kicked his first goal of the season which was to produce a record equalling 150 goals.

Two further goals from Hudson and one from Michael Porter established a handy half-time lead for the Hawks, which they maintained for the rest of the match. There was almost universal agreement that 21-year-old Kevin Heath, who had spent most of his career in defence, was best-on-ground playing ruck-rover and forward, while others in the best included Hudson, Kelvin Moore and Peter Crimmins.

In Round 1 2021, only a small contingent of Hawks’ fans were able to secure tickets in a half-capacity Covid-restricted crowd of 25,128 at Docklands. Essendon led by 40 points just before half-time, but a three-goal third quarter from Dylan Moore triggered a Hawks revival which ultimately saw Tim O’Brien kick the winning goal as Hawthorn won 14.8.92 to 13.13.91. Mitchell, Day, O’Meara, Jiath, Moore and Phillips were among the best for the Hawks.

30 years ago, in Round 1 1993, Shane Crawford made his debut in front of 25,098 fans at Waverley. He had 19 disposals and kicked a goal in Hawthorn’s workmanlike 23-point victory over Melbourne – 13.15.93 to 10.10.70. Anthony Condon and Darrin Pritchard both had 30 disposals, while Andy Gowers and Chris Langford received Brownlow votes.

40 years ago, in Round 1 1983, Hawthorn defeated Fitzroy at the Junction Oval, 20.11.131 to 16.16.112. Despite missing stars Leigh Matthews and Peter Knights, the Hawks retained a healthy margin for most of the game, before the Lions scored a flurry of late goals cut the final margin to 19 points. Michael Moncrieff kicked seven goals and debutant Ken Judge three. As well as Moncrieff at full-forward, the other outstanding player was full-back Kelvin Moore, and others in the best players included Gary Ayres, Rodney Eade and John Kennedy.

Both 80 and 90 years ago, Hawthorn recorded two-point Round 1 victories against St Kilda. In Round 1 1933, at the Junction Oval, Hawthorn 11.13.79 defeated St Kilda 10.17.77 with Bert Carey kicking five goals and Stuart Stewart being the best player. Another among the best was Alex Lee, great-grandfather of current Hawk, Josh Ward.

Ten years later, the Round 1 1943 game was played at St Kilda’s wartime home, Toorak Park, with Hawthorn winning, despite kicking fewer goals than the Saints, with a final score of 13.17.95 to 14.9.93. Jack Burke kicked four goals, while Jim Bohan, Jack Barker and Andy Angwin were among the best.

Overall, in Round 1, Hawthorn has won 44 and lost 54 of the 98 games it has played.

The team that Hawthorn has played least recently in Round 1 is the Bulldogs who have not been the opponent in the season opener since 1962, followed by Richmond (1980). Of the more recent entrants to the competition, the Hawks are yet to play Gold Coast, GWS, Port Adelaide or West Coast first-up. On the other hand, Hawthorn’s most common Round 1 opponents have been Collingwood (14 times) and St Kilda (13).

This Sunday, 19 March will become the second earliest date on which Hawthorn has begun its season. The only season when Hawthorn began earlier was the Olympic year of 2000 when the Hawks played their Round 1 game on Monday, 13 March and played their Round 2 match on Sunday, 19 March. Both those games ended in defeat so, if Hawthorn wins this Sunday, it will be the earliest in a calendar year that it has ever recorded a VFL-AFL victory.

Jason Dunstall holds the club record individual goal-kicking record against Essendon with 12 in 1992. Other big bags against the Bombers were 11 by Leigh Matthews in 1973 and 10 by Michael Moncrieff in 1972.

Dunstall also holds the club record for Round 1 having kicked 12 goals against Geelong in the opening rounds of both 1990 and 1992. Others to reach double figures in Round 1 were Alec Albiston (10 in 1940), Peter Hudson (10 in 1968) and Leigh Matthews (11 in 1981).