There have been many memorable team and individual performances by Hawthorn against Essendon.
There was the 1983 Grand Final, thrashing the Bombers by 83 points, and Leigh Matthews’ incredible effort of 11 goals and 41 disposals in 1973, plus Lance Franklin’s amazing pair of goals in 2010.
Hawthorn first beat Essendon in 1931, coming from behind at three-quarter time to record a 20-point win at Windy Hill. A five-point win in the final round of 1933 lifted Hawthorn off the bottom and gave Essendon the wooden spoon.
In 1957, it was a victory over Essendon at Glenferrie which clinched the Hawks a spot in the finals for the first time. The 1989 Second Semi Final was turned by a piece of Dermott Brereton aggression, as the Hawks won through to a seventh consecutive Grand Final and, in 1992, Hawthorn beat the Bombers by 160 points, kicking eight goals in every quarter.
Overall, the two clubs have met 169 times, with the Hawks winning 66 and the Bombers 103.
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This week we mark the anniversaries of two significant debuts, the 20th anniversary of Lance Franklin’s debut in Round 1 2005 and the 70th anniversary of Graham Arthur’s first game in Round 1 1955. Franklin became a Coleman Medallist and dual premiership player, while Arthur achieved club Legend status by captaining the club’s first premiership in 1961.
Conor Nash will this week become the 151st player to play 100 VFL/ AFL games for Hawthorn and certainly the first to do so after being recruited from Ireland.
Will Day received the sixth perfect 10 coaches’ votes for Hawthorn in the first game of a season, joining Tom Mitchell who did it twice (2018 and 2021), Luke Hodge (2010), James Worpel (2019) and Chad Wingard (2020). It was the second time that Will Day has secured a perfect 10, having also done so against GWS in Round 13 last season.
When Dylan Moore kicked Hawthorn’s first goal of the season, he joined three other current Hawks who have had that distinction - Luke Breust (2016), Mitch Lewis (2022) and Jack Ginnivan (2024).
Last Friday night’s crowd of 40,310 was the second biggest ever for a Hawthorn game against the Swans at the SCG, only exceeded by 42,314 in 2016.
This Friday night’s game will be a good chance of breaking the record for a home and away game against Essendon, with the current record of 78,294 being set in 2017.
This round marks the 60th anniversary of the record Glenferrie Oval crowd of 36,000 who crammed the ground to see Hawthorn’s home game against Carlton, with the added attraction that it was Ron Barassi’s first game as captain-coach of the Blues.
James Worpel’s injury will end his run of consecutive games at 49, just the third player in Hawthorn’s VFL/ AFL history to stop one short of a half-century, the others being Leo Murphy in 1938 and Brian Falconer in 1959. Other current Hawks with significant current consecutive game sequences are Blake Hardwick (76), Dylan Moore (71) and Conor Nash (63).
Last Friday night was Hawthorn’s 50th game in the month of March. The Hawks have now won 29 and lost 21 in the month. The first game the Hawks played in March was in 1980, a five-point defeat by Richmond at Princes Park.
Having lost in the past two Round 1 games, the Hawks will be trying to avoid suffering three consecutive Round 1 defeats for the first time since losing five consecutive Round 1 encounters from 1959 to 1963. Hawthorn’s Round 1 record is 44 wins and 56 defeats from 100 games.
From 1987 to 1997, Hawthorn won eight and lost three of its Round 1 games. What is extraordinary about that is that the three losses were in the three years when the Hawks went on to win the premiership, whereas in the other eight seasons when they won the first game, they did not claim the flag.
10 years ago, in Round 1 2015, Hawthorn thrashed Geelong by 62 points – 17.21.123 to 8.13.61. Luke Breust kicked five goals and both Jarryd Roughead and Paul Puopolo booted three. Jordan Lewis was outstanding and deservedly received the three Brownlow votes for his 35-disposal game.
30 years ago, in Round 1 1995, Hawthorn recorded a comprehensive 57-point win against Brisbane Bears at Waverley – 20.7.127 to 11.4.70. Jason Dunstall kicked six goals, while Shane Crawford and Paul Hudson contributed three each. Alex McDonald had the most disposals of his Hawthorn career with 30.
50 years ago, in Round 1 1975, Hawthorn gained some revenge for its four defeats by North Melbourne in 1974, defeating the Kangaroos by 29 points – 15.15.105 to 11.10.76. Michael Moncrieff kicked six goals and was rated Hawthorn’s best followed by Leigh Matthews, Kelvin Moore, Kevin Heath, Michael Tuck and Don Scott.
90 years ago, in Round 1 1935, accurate goalkicking gave Hawthorn a four-point victory over North Melbourne – 14.3.87 to 12.11.83. Jack Green kicked seven goals.
Jason Dunstall holds the club's 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).
