Dylan Moore will this week be playing his 50^th consecutive game in the brown and gold. The last game he missed was Round 23 2021. Since then, he played every game in 2022 (22 games) and 2023 (23 games) and the first four matches of this season taking him to 49.

Moore has the second longest current sequence of consecutive games behind Blake Hardwick (54). They both have a way to go to equal Andy Collins who played 189 consecutive games for the Hawks from 1988 to 1996.

This round marks the 30^th anniversary of the most stunning form reversal in Hawthorn history.

After a win in Round 1, the 1994 Hawks had lost their next three matches to Melbourne, North Melbourne, and Carlton by a combined margin of 268 points. Few gave last-placed Hawthorn any chance of victory in a match against the high-flying (and eventual Premier) West Coast at Subiaco.

However, the return from injury of Jason Dunstall, Chris Langford and Jason Taylor transformed the team and, after a slow start, the Hawks stunned the home crowd by taking complete control - winning 19.15.129 to 8.10.58. Dunstall kicked five goals, and in an amazing debut, Tim Hargreaves kicked four. Anthony Condon (30 disposals), Darren Jarman (25) and Paul Cooper (23) led a dominant midfield.

This week Hawthorn faces the daunting challenge of avoiding losing the opening five games of a VFL-AFL season for the first time since 1970.

This is only the third time since 1970 when Hawthorn has gone into Round 5 with a 0-4 record. In both previous cases, in 1998 and 2017, there were upset wins in Round 5.

In 1998, the Hawks defeated the Brisbane Lions by 41 points on Anzac Day, with Jason Dunstall kicking six goals and Nick Holland four. In 2017, a Hawthorn team, which still had 14 Premiership players, thrashed West Coast by 50 points at the MCG, with Ben McEvoy, Tom Mitchell and Cyril Rioli among the best players.

If Hawthorn does lose this week, the 1970 team might provide some consolation. Having lost the first seven games of 1970, the Hawks then proceeded to win 10 of the last 15 games of that season and won the Premiership the following season.

Blake Hardwick’s four second half goals against Collingwood evoked memories of another defender turned forward 45 years ago.

With Hawthorn struggling late in the 1979 season, reliable defender David O’Halloran (who until that time had kicked 10 goals in 89 games and never more than two in a game) was swung forward against Melbourne at Waverley and proceeded to kick four as Hawthorn overcame a 33-point quarter time deficit to win by 22 points.

Hardwick’s performance was probably even more remarkable, as he had previously kicked just eight goals in 150 games before his stunning burst against the Magpies.

This week marks the 110^th anniversary of Hawthorn’s first ever game in a senior football competition and the first time the club wore brown and gold.

It was on Monday 13 April 1914 that Hawthorn played its first game in the VFA at Port Melbourne, going down to the home team by 41 points – 9.9.63 to 16.8.104. Hawthorn changed its colours from blue and gold to brown and gold for the 1914 season to prevent a clash with the colours of existing VFA club Williamstown.

Hawthorn won its first eight games against Gold Coast from 2011 to 2016, which was a better starting record than against any other club. The overall record between the clubs is currently 12-5 in Hawthorn’s favour.

This Saturday night will be just Hawthorn’s fifth game at Carrara against the Suns, with the Hawks coming away victorious in 2011 and 2014 but suffering heavy defeats in 2017 and last season. Overall, Hawthorn has played 11 times at the venue for a 6-5 record, having a 4-2 record there against Brisbane and losing to St Kilda in 2020.

Hawthorn has played 98 games in Round 5 for 42 wins and 56 losses (having a bye in 1993). The Hawks have only won once in Round 5 in the past six seasons, but it was a memorable victory, against Geelong on Easter Monday 2022.

40 years ago, in Round 5 1984, Michael Tuck celebrated his 250-game milestone in style, collecting 31 disposals, kicking three goals and securing the three Brownlow votes as Hawthorn recorded a 47-point win against Footscray at the Western Oval, 22.9.141 to 13.16.94. At that time, it was also regarded as Leigh Matthews’ 300^th game, as interstate games played on the same day as club games were counted, but posterity now records it as his 292^nd game.

60 years ago, in Round 5 1964, Hawthorn defeated lowly Fitzroy to make it 4-1 for the season and move to second position on the ladder. The Hawks won 16.18.114 to 8.19.67, with John Peck kicking six goals and Col Youren, Rod Olsson and Graham Arthur listed in the best players.

70 years ago, in Round 5 1954, Hawthorn came from 24 points down at three quarter-time to score a thrilling five-point win over 1953 Grand Finalist Geelong at Glenferrie. Boom recruit Clayton ‘Candles’ Thompson booted four goals and young local Allan Woodley kicked three, with John Kennedy and Clive Philp also among the best.

Round 5 produced what was then the highest, and remains the second highest, individual goal tally in Hawthorn history, when Peter Hudson kicked 16 against Melbourne at Glenferrie in 1969.

Jarryd Roughead’s six goals against Gold Coast in his final game in 2019 is the record for Hawthorn against the Suns, surpassing the bags of five kicked by Luke Breust (2011), Lance Franklin (2013) and Jack Gunston (2014, 2017 and 2022).