Reflecting on all the topical milestones and achievements, past and present, as we head into Round 1 of the 2019 season. This is 'Footy Flashbacks'....
This Saturday Hawthorn will be hoping to put together consecutive Round 1 wins for just the second time this century.
The only other instance was in 2014-15 when the Hawks beat Brisbane Lions and Geelong. Prior to that, the last consecutive Round 1 wins for the Hawks was a sequence of six from 1992 to 1997.
Hawthorn has played Adelaide three times at Adelaide Oval and won all three games.
The first meeting in 2014 saw a 12-point Hawks victory and the second in 2015 a 29-point success. When the clubs met at the Adelaide Oval in Round 14 2017, the 17th placed Hawthorn were bigger underdogs than at any time in their recent history when taking on the ladder-leading Crows. Trailing by three goals at half-time, a Hawthorn win still seemed unlikely, but a stunning 8.8 to 3.6 second half lifted the Hawks to a memorable win, with the three Brownlow votes going to former Crow, Ricky Henderson.
The Adelaide Oval performances are a big improvement on Hawthorn’s record against the Crows at Football Park where there were just four wins in 15 attempts, the victories coming in 1993, 1994, 2008 and 2013.
While the Hawks’ perfect record against the Crows at the Adelaide Oval inspires optimism. Hawthorn’s previous results when playing away interstate in Round 1 point in the opposite direction, with defeats in all four previous such games.
Hawthorn twice played the Crows at Football Park in Round 1, losing by 86 points in the Crows debut game in 1991 and by 20 points in 2011. In 2005, Alastair Clarkson made his coaching debut in a 63-point loss to Sydney at the SCG and in 2007 the Hawks lost to the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba by 25 points.
However, the Hawks have won outside Victoria in Round 1, securing two home wins in Launceston, against Fremantle in 2006 and Brisbane Lions in 2014.
Michael Osborne achieved the remarkable statistic of kicking Hawthorn’s opening goal of the season in three consecutive years from 2009 to 2011. Since then, seven different individuals have kicked the first of the year, including Tim O’Brien (2014), Paul Puopolo (2015), Luke Breust (2016), Liam Shiels (2017) and Shaun Burgoyne (2018). Who will achieve the honour in 2019?
Hawthorn has won nine of its last ten games against Adelaide, the only blemish being a 24-point loss at the MCG in Round 2 2017. Prior to that defeat, the Hawks had won the previous seven, beginning with a 56-point victory in Round 3 2012 and including two thrillers - the five-point win in the 2012 Preliminary Final and the Paul Puopolo inspired three-point win in 2016. Last season, the Hawks powered away to another 56-point victory at the MCG in Round 13. In total, the Hawks and Crows have played 41 times, with Hawthorn holding a 22-19 advantage.
20 years ago, in Round 1 1999, Hawthorn continued the good form it had shown in winning the Ansett Cup pre-season competition by securing a hard-fought 15 point Round 1 win against Collingwood – 10.14.74 to 8.11.59. The Hawks went into the game with three debutants – Kris Barlow, Michael Collica and Adrian Cox. Shane Crawford got his Brownlow Medal winning season underway by picking up two votes, only outpolled in this game by teammate Trent Croad.
50 years ago, in Round 1 1969, the Hawks also kicked off the season with a victory against Collingwood, on this occasion by 22 points – 17.9.111 to 11.23.89. A Glenferrie Oval crowd of 28,802 saw Peter Hudson kick six goals, while Peter Chilton, David Parkin and Ray Wilson all accumulated 19 kicks.
Overall in Round 1 Hawthorn has played 94 times for 40 wins and 54 losses. Of Hawthorn’s 13 premiership seasons, eight began with wins and five with defeats.
The team that Hawthorn has played least recently in Round 1 is the Bulldogs who have not been the opponent in the season opener since 1962. The next longest droughts are North Melbourne (1977) and Richmond (1980). Of the more recent entrants to the competition, the Hawks are yet to play Gold Coast, GWS, Port Adelaide or West Coast first-up. On the other hand, Hawthorn’s most common Round 1 opponents have been Collingwood (14 times) and St Kilda (13).
This Saturday will be the third occasion when Hawthorn has played on 23 March. The previous two instances were in 1985 and 2008. In the former, a Round 3 fixture between the previous season’s Grand Finalists which was played before Round 1, Hawthorn lost to Essendon by 14 points. On a Sunday in 2008, Hawthorn thrashed Melbourne by 104 points, in a game which saw Cyril Rioli and Stuart Dew make their first appearances in the brown and gold.
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 club record for Round 1 is 12 goals also kicked by Dunstall, 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).
