James Sicily will this Sunday become the ninth player to reach the milestone of 150 Hawthorn games while captaining the club. 

The first to do so was Alec Albiston, who was captain-coach when he played his 150^th game in a thrilling one-point win against Geelong at Kardinia Park in 1948. This set a trend which has seen six of the eight captains celebrate the milestone in winning teams, most recently in 2021, when Ben McEvoy’s 150^th Hawthorn game saw a win against the Brisbane Lions. 

The four other captains to celebrate game number 150 by captaining a win were John Kennedy Snr. (1958), Graham Arthur (1963), David Parkin (1971) and Shane Crawford (2000). The two captains to suffer defeats in their 150^th games were Peter Crimmins (1974) and Sam Mitchell (2009).

Last Saturday’s winning margin of 66 points against Collingwood was Hawthorn’s second-biggest ever against a reigning Premier. The only larger victory was by 75 points against 1980 Premier Richmond in Round 6 1981.

It was the fifth occasion when Hawthorn has inflicted a 10-goal defeat on a reigning premier with others, besides 1981 and 2024, being by 62 points (Richmond 1975), 61 points (Kangaroos 2000) and 60 points (Carlton 1971). It was only the second occasion when Hawthorn has recorded a victory over Collingwood as reigning Premier, the other being a 43-point win in 1991.

Nick Watson’s nomination for the AFL Rising Star makes 2024 the 10^th consecutive season when Hawthorn has had at least one nominee. It also consolidates Hawthorn in fourth place on the list of clubs with the most nominations. Watson is the 46th Hawk to be nominated since the award was introduced in 1993, which puts the club behind only Brisbane (52), Melbourne (50) and Essendon (47).

Hawthorn has an outstanding record against Adelaide at Adelaide Oval having won four of five games there. Oddly, the Hawks' only loss was in a designated ‘home’ game there in one of the quirks of the Covid-era fixture in 2020. Hawthorn recorded wins in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019. 

The 2017 victory was a stunning upset as the 17^th-placed Hawks toppled the ladder-leading Crows by 14 points in a Round 14 Thursday night game, with Ricky Henderson starring against his former club.

The good record against the Crows at Adelaide Oval is something of a contrast with the record at Football Park where the Hawks won just four of 15 matches against Adelaide, recording those rare wins in 1993, 1994, 2008 and 2013. 

In total, the Hawks and Crows have played 48 times, with Hawthorn holding a 26-22 advantage. After Hawthorn won 10 of 11 encounters between 2012 and 2019, recent seasons have seen alternating results so Hawthorn will be hoping to make it consecutive wins after the 27-point victory in Round 12 this season.

2024 has seen Hawthorn record three attendances above 70,000 in a home and away season for just the third time in its history. The only previous years when this occurred were 2013 and 2014, with both of those seasons seeing four such crowds. Saturday’s attendance of 74,171 was the largest at a Hawthorn home game since a crowd of 76,300 attended against Geelong in Round 1 2013.

The run of success on 20 July was certainly continued by last Saturday’s big win, with Hawthorn now winning its last eight 20 July games, not tasting defeat on the date since 1946.

Saturday also saw Hawthorn centuries for and against tally back level, this time at 708 apiece. This is just the sixth time in 100 seasons that the figures have been tied, the others being at 0, 660, 703, 704 and 707. The biggest lead Hawthorn had on this metric was 17 late in the 2018 season, and the largest deficit was 194 during the 1968 season.

Hawthorn has played 56 matches in Round 20, winning 31 and losing 25. The Hawks won in Round 20 for six consecutive seasons from 2010 to 2015, with more recent victories coming against Essendon in 2018 and Brisbane Lions in 2021. 

10 years ago, in Round 20 2014, the Hawks recorded a 50-point victory against Melbourne at the MCG – 17.13.115 to 9.11.65. Jordan Lewis continued his stellar season with his 34-disposal game earning him 10 Coaches votes and three Brownlow votes, with Jarryd Roughead (five goals) and Liam Shiels both also outstanding.

30 years ago, in Round 20 1994, Hawthorn defeated West Coast at Waverley by 46 points – 15.10.100 to 7.12.54. Paul Hudson kicked five goals and Alex McDonald three, while the Brownlow votes went to Chris Langford, Darren Jarman and Shane Crawford. The victory meant Hawthorn beat the eventual Premiers twice in 1994, having also thrashed the Eagles by 71 points at Subiaco in Round 5.

40 years ago, in Round 20 1984, Hawthorn thrashed Sydney by 89 points at the SCG – 25.24.174 to 11.19.85. An SCG crowd of just 8,276 saw Leigh Matthews kick six goals and Ken Judge booted four. Russell Greene had an equal career-high 38 disposals and Peter Russo a career-high 37, while Michael McCarthy received three Brownlow votes.

50 years ago, in Round 20 1974, Hawthorn defeated St Kilda by 33 points at Waverley – 16.12.108 to 11.9.75. Michael Moncrieff starred up forward with seven goals, with John Hendrie also outstanding with 29 disposals.

Jason Dunstall holds the Hawthorn individual goal-kicking record against Adelaide, kicking nine goals on three separate occasions – in 1993 and 1994 (both at Football Park) and in 1996 (at Waverley). 

The Round 20 Hawthorn individual goals record is also held by Dunstall, who kicked 12 goals against Essendon in 1992. Other 10 goal-plus Round 20 hauls were Dunstall’s 11 versus Collingwood in 1990 and Michael Moncrieff’s 10 against Essendon in 1972.