Luke Bruest’s three goals last Sunday took him to 31 goals for the season, the 12^th occasion in his 13-season career that he has passed the 30-goal mark for the season.

The only year when he did not reach 30 goals was the shortened 2020 season.

The only other Hawthorn players to reach 30 goals in 12 or more seasons have been Leigh Matthews and Jason Dunstall. Matthews achieved it in 15 of his 17 seasons (the exceptions being his first two seasons); and Jason Dunstall in 13 of his 14 seasons (missing in 1997 when injury curtailed his season).

Hawthorn has kept the opposition to scores of 40 points or below twice in the same season for just the fifth time in the last 50 years.

In Round 10, the 2023 Hawks restricted West Coast to just 4.2.26 and last Sunday North Melbourne only managed to score 6.4.40.  The other previous seasons in the past 50 years when this has happened were 1975, 1995, 2015 and 2019.

Another now almost certain outcome is that Hawthorn will finish above North Melbourne for the 16^th consecutive season. The Kangaroos most recently finished higher than Hawthorn in 2007, ensuring they did so with victory over the Hawks in a Semi Final.

In the 15 completed seasons from 2008 to 2022, the biggest gap between the clubs was nine places in 2013 and the smallest gap was two places in both 2010 and 2020. In an odd quirk, Hawthorn finished three places above North in five of the six seasons from 2014 to 2019.

However, the current sequence with North is not the longest such sequence in Hawthorn history. The Hawthorn record for consecutive seasons finishing above another club is an incredible 22 seasons from 1968 to 1989 when Hawthorn finished above Melbourne. That sequence ended when Melbourne defeated Hawthorn in the 1990 Elimination Final.

Hawthorn also has two other longer sequences than the current one against North, having finished above the Bulldogs for 21 seasons from 1971 to 1991 and above St Kilda for 18 consecutive seasons from 1974 to 1991.

On the side of the ledger, in its first 31 seasons in the competition Hawthorn finished behind Richmond finally edging ahead in 1956 and not until the following season did the Hawks finish above Carlton for the first time, ensuring this happened with victory in the 1957 First Semi Final.

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 92, 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.

Seamus Mitchell not playing the week after receiving a Rising Star nomination was not unique in Hawthorn history. Two previous Hawks, Jordan Lewis (2005) and Jed Anderson (2013), both missed the week after their nominations due to injury.

Hawthorn has played 59 games in Round 19, recording 33 wins and 26 losses (with a bye in 1991). Hawthorn won five consecutive Round 19 games from 2014 to 2018, and after defeats in 2019 and 2021 (there was no Round 19 in 2020), the Hawks returned to the winner’s list by defeating North Melbourne in Hobart last season.

However, Hawthorn does not have a good Round 19 record against Richmond, having met the Tigers five times in this round for just a solitary win (in 1978). One of the defeats was 50 years ago, in 1973, when a five-point defeat by the eventual Premiers severely dented the Hawks’ Finals prospects. Another was 10 years ago, in 2013, when the Tigers inflicted one of just three defeats on Hawthorn in the triumphant 2013 campaign.

20 years ago, in Round 19 2003, Hawthorn, wearing heritage jumpers of brown with a gold vee, scored an upset win over fourth-placed Sydney at the SCG. A Saturday night crowd of 33,473 saw the Hawks set up the win by leading against the wind at quarter time and then adding 6.1 to 2.3 in the second quarter.

Five consecutive goals brought the Swans back into the game before a strong mark and goal by Nick Holland and a crucial interception by Michael Osborne stemmed the flow. The Hawks ran out winners, 17.8.110 to 14.9.93.

Twelve Hawthorn players kicked goals led by Nathan Thompson with three. Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell were both playing their 27^th games and already their quality was becoming apparent as Mitchell got the three Brownlow votes and Hodge two. The one vote went to captain Shane Crawford, while others in the best players were Peter Everitt, Richie Vandenberg and Nathan Lonie.

25 years ago, in Round 19 1998, Hawthorn pulled off a major upset for the second week in a row, this time thrashing St Kilda, 19.14.128 to 10.9.69. The Saints led by a goal at quarter-time, but a 7.4 to 1.1 second term from the Hawks turned the game around. Aaron Lord kicked six goals and Shane Crawford was best-on-ground.

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.  In his whole career, Dunstall kicked 111 goals against Richmond, behind only his 116 against the Bulldogs.

Speaking of Dunstall’s record against the Bulldogs, he holds the individual goal-kicking record for Round 19, setting it in 1996 when he kicked 14 against Footscray at Waverley on a Saturday night.