Mabior Chol could become the first player since Peter Hudson in 1967 to top Hawthorn’s goalkicking in his first season at the club.

Chol’s two goals on Sunday took him to 29 for the season, one ahead of Dylan Moore.

There have been six previous individuals who topped the goalkicking in their first Hawthorn seasons, four as VFL-AFL debutants, and two, like Chol, after moving from other clubs.

One was Jack Green from Carlton who, in his first season at Hawthorn in 1934 kicked a remarkable 80 goals whereas, in 1953, Kevin Coghlan from Collingwood managed to top the goalkicking with just 19 goals.

This Sunday, Hawthorn will be playing GWS Giants at Manuka Oval in Canberra for the second time. Few could forget the previous occasion, in Round 21 2019, made memorable both by snow falling during play and a comprehensive Hawthorn victory.

The Hawks had a handy 13-point lead at half-time, but then kicked 7.5 to 0.4 in the second half to win by 56 points – 13.7.85 to 4.5.29. James Worpel received three Brownlow votes and James Sicily got 10 Coaches’ votes, and it was also a memorable night for Changkuoth Jiath who made his debut.

As well as those three, three other members of the current team played (Breust, Hardwick and Nash), with two others from that game (Lewis and Wingard) still on the list. Interestingly, just four members of the GWS team from the game played in their most recent game, although a further three remain on their list. And, in a further quirk, the two most recent Norm Smith Medalists (Isaac Smith and Bobby Hill) played in the game.

The Hawks’ overall record against the Giants from 15 games is evenly balanced with seven wins, a draw and seven defeats. Given that six of the seven defeats have been recorded at the Giants’ regular home ground, it is probably good that this match is in Canberra.

Connor Macdonald has become the tenth current Hawthorn player to receive a perfect 10 Coaches’ votes in a game for the club after his best-on-ground performance against Adelaide. Prior to last Sunday, Macdonald’s previous best was nine votes, which was recorded against Brisbane Lions in Round 13 last season. MacDonald joins Dylan Moore (Round 12) and Will Day (Round 13) as other Hawks to have had their first 10-vote game this season.

Hawthorn has recorded consecutive wins by more than 10 goals for the first time since 2015. Prior to the 66-point victories against Collingwood and Adelaide, the last time there were consecutive wins by more than 10 goals was in Rounds 15 to 17 of 2015, when Hawthorn delivered three in a row – by 72 points versus Fremantle, 89 against Sydney and a massive 138 points over Carlton.

In kicking totals of 20.13.133 and 19.10.124 in the past two matches, the Hawks have also recorded consecutive scores above 120 for the first time since those consecutive wins against Sydney and Carlton in 2015, when the Hawthorn scores were 23.8.146 and 27.11.173.

Sunday’s 19 goals against Adelaide with no individual contributing more than two (eight kicked two and three contributed one), is also a new club record, surpassing Round 15 2017 when Hawthorn kicked 18 goals against Collingwood (with six players kicking two and six contributing one).

Last Sunday, Hawthorn fielded an unchanged team for the fourth time this season, making 2024 equal with 2006 and 2011 as the seasons with the highest number of unchanged teams in the club’s VFL-AFL history.

Since it was first contested in 1970, Round 21 has been one of the best rounds for Hawthorn, with 39 wins and only 14 defeats, including victories in 13 consecutive Round 21 matches between 1982 and 1994, and eight consecutive wins from 2006 to 2013. Hawthorn has now had seven more Round 21 wins in a row, beating North Melbourne (2016 and 2017), Geelong (2018), GWS (2019), Collingwood (2021and 2023) and Gold Coast (2022). There was no Round 21 in 2020.

A feature of Hawthorn’s Round 21 wins has been massive winning margins. In fact, five of the 27 one hundred-point victories in Hawthorn history have occurred in Round 21, more than in any other round. These were in 1983 (versus Melbourne), 1986 (Geelong), 1991 (Fitzroy), 2010 (Fremantle) and 2011 (Port Adelaide).

20 years ago, in Round 21 2004, Hawthorn gave itself a chance of avoiding the wooden spoon, defeating Richmond by 23 points - 16.13.109 to 13.8.86. Peter Everitt deservedly received the three Brownlow while younger players, Luke Hodge and Chance Bateman, were awarded the other votes.

30 years ago, in Round 21 1994, Hawthorn also played Richmond and won largely because of more accurate goalkicking - 18.9.117 to 11.23.89 (a very similar scoreline to the 2008 Grand Final). Jason Dunstall and Paul Hudson both kicked four goals, while good players included Chris Langford, Stephen Lawrence, Anthony Condon and John Platten. The only Hawks to appear in both the 1994 and 2004 Round 21 games against Richmond were Shane Crawford and Mark Graham

40 years ago, in Round 21 1984, second-placed Hawthorn defeated fourth-placed Collingwood at Princes Park by 15 points – 16.23.119 to 15.14.104. What made the win more meritorious was that the Hawks were missing several stars and then lost John Kennedy to a broken leg. Kelvin Moore was celebrating his 300^th game, although a subsequent adjustment means it is now regarded as his 299^th. The list of best players included Dipierdomenico, Byrne, Judge Robertson, Greene, and Wallace.

Jason Dunstall and Peter Hudson share Hawthorn’s Round 21 individual goalkicking record. Hudson kicked nine goals in Round 21 in both 1970 and 1971, while Dunstall recorded the same tally in 1986 and 1989. Jarryd Roughead holds the Hawks’ individual record against GWS kicking six in 2012 at the MCG.