The last time Hawthorn and Carlton met in Round 6 was in 2009, when a late miss by Blues’ spearhead Brendan Fevola ensured Hawthorn held on for a four-point win.

Hawthorn won the game 16.10.106 to 15.12.102, with Jarryd Roughead kicking a career-high eight goals and Brad Sewell outstanding with 32 disposals. The game at the MCG was watched by a record crowd for a home and away game between the Hawks and Blues of 69.814. 

This week Hawthorn plays on Sunday 28 April which was also the date of the club’s first-ever VFL-AFL game in Tasmania. 

On Sunday 28 April 1991, the Hawks played Fitzroy at the North Hobart Oval and proceeded to kick what remains the club’s record score of 36.15.231. The goal-kickers were headed by Ben Allan (7), Darren Jarman (7), Jason Dunstall (6), Paul Hudson (5) and Anthony Condon (4).

At the time, the winning margin of 157 was also a club record, but it has subsequently been bettered by margins of 165 (Port Adelaide 2011), 162 (GWS 2012) and 160 (Essendon 1992).

This Sunday’s game will be the second meeting between Hawthorn and Carlton at University of Tasmania Stadium. The one previous encounter was in Round 19 2016, when the Hawks prevailed in a low-scoring affair – 10.14.74 to 7.13.55. Shaun Burgoyne, Jordan Lewis and Grant Birchall were among the best players. The attendance of 18,112 was the biggest for a Hawthorn game in Launceston since 2012.

The repeat game against Carlton will leave Geelong, Richmond, Sydney as teams Hawthorn has only played once in Tasmania, with Collingwood, Essendon and Melbourne as the only clubs which have never played an AFL game against the Hawks in Launceston.

Hawthorn begins its 2019 games at its second-home with the imposing record of 46 wins, a draw and just 13 defeats from the 60 games it has played at the venue.

Hawthorn has won 20 of its last 23 games against Carlton since the start of the 2001 season.

The three losses in that time were all at Docklands, and each was by only a small margin – 12 points (2004), six points (2005) and seven points (2017). 

The head-to-head between the clubs, currently has Hawthorn on 63 wins and Carlton on 103. The current deficit of 40 is the equal smallest it had been since 1951. Hawthorn’s first 30 seasons in the competition only saw four victories against the Blues, these coming in 1939, 1940, 1945 and 1953. 

Hawthorn’s best sequences of victories against Carlton have been the recent 14-win streak (2005 to 2016), while others were seven (1984 to 1986) and five (2001 to 2003).

This will be the third consecutive season when Hawthorn has played its Round 6 game at University of Tasmania Stadium.

Last season, Hawthorn defeated St Kilda by 35 points, in a game perhaps now best-remembered as featuring the debut of James Worpel. In 2017, the Saints had thrashed the Hawks in Launceston by 75 points, which had also been the losing margin for the Hawks against the GWS Giants in Sydney in Round 6 2016.

Overall in Round 6 Hawthorn has recorded 40 wins and 50 defeats in 90 matches (with byes in 1942, 1943, 1994 and 2011).

For those seeking some comfort after Monday’s loss to Geelong, then looking back at some Round 6 memories should help.

30 years ago, in Round 6 1989, Hawthorn recorded one of the greatest comebacks in VFL-AFL history against Geelong, coming from 56 points down late in the second quarter to win by seven points. 

The high-scoring match at Princes Park saw Geelong lead by 19, 46 and 19 again at the changes, before the Hawks stormed home to win 26.15.171 to 25.13.163. The goals were shared amongst 11 players headed by Gary Buckenara (5), Dermott Brereton (5), Jason Dunstall (4) and Tony Hall (3), while Gary Ayres was at his brilliant best in the engine room. 

Ten years later, in Round 6 1999, Hawthorn celebrated the anniversary with a gutsy two-point win against the Cats in front of 27,341 at Kardinia Park - 14.16.100 to 14.14.98. Shane Crawford got the three Brownlow votes on his way to winning the medal that season.

In this Anzac Day round, we should remember the ten Hawthorn League players who lost their lives in the Second World War, or who died as a result as a result of war wounds, or war-related illness – Jack Drake, Alf Giblett, Bruce Hone, Alex Nash, Richard Pirrie, Jack Price, Len Thomas, Max Wheeler, Leo ‘Gus’ Young and Harold Zucker. 

There were also several players who represented the club in its days in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association and VFA who lost their lives on active duty in the First World War. Their names include Hugh Callan, John Collins, Don McConville, Joe Slater and Joseph Sorby. 

Read: Hawks to contest Alec Campbell Cup

Jason Dunstall holds the Hawthorn record for Round 6 kicking nine goals in both 1992 and 1993 (against Collingwood and Adelaide respectively), a tally equaled by Lance Franklin against Essendon in 2007.

Hawthorn’s great goal-kickers never managed big bags against Carlton. Peter Hudson, Leigh Matthews and Jason Dunstall all had a top score of seven goals against the Blues – in 1968, 1978 and 1989 respectively. The best individual tallies for Hawthorn against Carlton are nine by Peter Knights in 1985, eight by Garry Young (in a losing side) in 1959 and another eight by Jarryd Roughead in 2009 (see above).