If Hawthorn wins this week, it will be the equal longest sequence of alternating wins and losses in club history. The record of 9 has been recorded on three occasions - in 1936, 1957-58 and 2002.

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Hawthorn has won all six matches it has played against Gold Coast, its longest successful opening record against any opponent. Other clubs against which the Hawks began with a winning sequence were Brisbane (4), GWS (3), Fremantle (2), Footscray and Port Adelaide (1).

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This Saturday will be the third meeting between Hawthorn and Gold Coast at Aurora Stadium.
In Round 13 2011, Aurora Stadium hosted the first-ever match between the two clubs. Gold Coast were competitive in the first half, but the Hawks kicked away to a 71 point win – 19.15.129 to 8.10.58. Two young Hawks, Luke Breust and Shane Savage, both kicked 4 goals, with Savage also accumulating 33 disposals. Best on ground was Sam Mitchell with 38 disposals, while Luke Hodge and Grant Birchall were also among the best.

The second Launceston game was in Round 15 last season when Hawthorn, after trailing by a point at quarter time, set up the win with a 7.1 to 2.0 second term. Luke Hodge, Jordan Lewis and Isaac Smith all had high disposals counts and kicked multiple goals.

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Imagine the scenario facing Hawthorn 25 years ago this round. You are playing the top side and you trail by 14 points at quarter time. More significantly, your champion full forward and centre half forward have both been injured and can take no further part in the game. Another champion becomes almost immobile in the third quarter. A loss seems inevitable, or is it?

Despite having won the previous two Premierships, Hawthorn went into Round 9 1990 on the back of an indifferent 5 – 3 record. In contrast, opponents Melbourne had progressed confidently to 7 – 1 and top spot on the ladder. This was surely an opportunity for Melbourne to extract some revenge for their defeats in the 1987 Preliminary Final and 1988 Grand Final.

On a very grey Saturday afternoon, the mood of Hawthorn supporters soon matched the weather.  The opening quarter was an unmitigated disaster for the Hawks. Not only were the team outplayed and outscored, but Jason Dunstall had received a depressed fracture of the skull when, after completing a diving mark, he was accidently kneed in the head by Melbourne’s Spalding.  Also injured in the first term was Dermott Brereton and, like Dunstall, he was not to take any further part in the game. To add insult to injury, Brereton had been reported, as had Chris Langford, and those two were to be joined in the umpires’ books in the second quarter by Peter Schwab.

Hawthorn battled away for the next quarter and a half to ensure Melbourne’s lead remained around the two goal mark. Younger players Andy Collins, Anthony Condon and Paul Cooper were outstanding, while John Platten, who had been down on form in recent matches, looked revitalised, especially after he discarded a knee brace he had been wearing.

Still for all the hard work it was hard to see how Hawthorn was going to kick a winning score. Then came what appeared to be the final crippling blow to the Hawthorn cause - Gary Ayres injured his leg, severely reducing his mobility. In normal circumstances, he would have left the ground, but with no interchange available all that coach Allan Jeans could do was shift him to full forward and hope he would at least keep a Melbourne defender semi-occupied. He did a bit more than that - he became the focal point of the brown and gold cause.  

Ayres outpointed two defenders to take a pack mark and kicked the goal off a couple of steps.  He added another later in the term, while also decisively winning a push and shove with a handful of Melbourne defenders. Sandwiched between his two goals, Dean Anderson had burst clear of a pack to score and give Hawthorn the most unlikely of leads.

The mood of Hawthorn supporters at three quarter time could not have been more different than it had been at quarter time. Now, the adrenalin was pumping, now they roared encouragement as the huddle broke up and now they sensed another chapter in Hawthorn’s remarkable history was about to be written. Melbourne recorded the opening score of the final term – a behind. It was to be their final score of the match. Hawthorn were about to kill them off.  

It may have been grey, and it may have started to rain, but Hawthorn was on fire. In a classic piece of roving, Platten read the ball off the pack at half forward and booted a 50 metre goal.  Darrin Pritchard lifted the little champion high in the air to celebrate. Next, Anderson took a courageous mark running with the flight of the ball and calmly steered his set shot through.  Somehow, the half-lame Ayres managed to get 15 metres clear of his opponent Hughes to mark on the lead and kick a 50 metre goal off a two-step run-up. Moments later, taking a free for on-the-full, Platten managed to steer the wet ball through from the boundary, 45 metres out, to put the icing on the cake of an extraordinary Hawthorn win.

The following week’s Football Record only recorded three players in the “best” for Melbourne, as opposed to ten for Hawthorn. The ten were Collins, Pritchard, Cooper, Platten, Ayres, Condon, Tuck, P. Dear, Dipierdomenico and Anderson. The other eight were not bad either. All 18 players who remained after quarter time had played their hearts out and produced a famous triumph against all the odds.

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The loss to Sydney last Saturday means Hawthorn second longest home game winning streak has come to an end. Since losing to Richmond in Round 19 2013, the Hawks had won 15 consecutive home games (10 at the MCG and 5 at Aurora). This ranks second in club history behind a streak of 21 from 1987 to 1989.

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Hawthorn has played 89 matches in Round 9 for 41 wins and 48 defeats and had the bye last season. The Hawks won five consecutive Round 9 matches from 2007 to 2011, but then suffered a shock 62 point loss to Richmond in Round 9 2012, before bouncing back with a win against Gold Coast in 2013.

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Peter Hudson holds the Round 9 record, booting 10, in a 30 point victory over Fitzroy at Glenferrie, in this round in 1968. The individual goal-kicking record for Hawthorn against Gold Coast is 5, held jointly by Luke Breust (2011), Lance Franklin (2013) and Jack Gunston (2014).