This round marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most memorable individual performances in Hawthorn history.
Peter Hudson kicked 16 goals against Melbourne at Glenferrie in Round 5 1969, only two fewer goals than what remains the League record of 18 booted by Melbourne’s Fred Fanning in 1947.
Remarkably, despite Hudson kicking seven first half goals, the Hawks trailed by three points at half time. The Sun reported that “Hawthorn hit the lead early in the third quarter when Hudson, standing with hands on hips away from the play, seemed to hypnotise the ball. It came to him in the clear and his eighth major put Hawthorn two points up”.
Hudson added four goals in the third term and another five in the last and, with mounting excitement, “the Hawthorn grandstand chanted “Peter Hudson, Peter Hudson” as his goal tally increased. His 16 came out of a total score of 21.10.136 (versus Melbourne 14.20.104), with the other five goals coming from Crimmins (3), Chilton and Ferguson.
The match report explained that Hudson’s “goals came from spectacular overhead marks, clever positioning and unselfish team play”. Indeed, he twice passed to teammates closer to goal, passing up opportunities to add to his 16.1 and three out-of-bounds. The Sun’s reporter was a young Scot Palmer and he described interviewing Hudson “as he was pushed, jostled and back-slapped by more than 1000 supporters”. Hudson said “I couldn’t believe it was happening to me. It was like a full-forward’s dream”.
Hudson broke his own previous club record of 12 goals, and his new club record has only been exceeded once in the subsequent half-century, by Jason Dunstall’s 17 goals versus Richmond in 1992.
The last time the Hawks and Cats played on 22 April was in Launceston in 2007. A crowd of 17,120 saw Hawthorn overcome an 18-point quarter time deficit to win by four points – 10.16.76 to 9.18.72. Mark Williams kicked three goals and the best players included Shane Crawford, Luke Hodge, Brent Guerra and Jordan Lewis.
In total, Hawthorn and Geelong have met 164 times with the Hawks winning 74, Geelong 89 and one draw in 1963. Hawthorn won 11 consecutive encounters between the clubs from 1985 to 1990. The Hawks won both matches last season – by one point in Round 2 and by 11 points in Round 21.
Hawthorn’s Round 3 debutant, Dylan Moore, will be hoping to end something of a curse for those beginning their Hawthorn careers in number 36. In the past 45 years, the highest number of appearances in Hawthorn guernsey number 36 is the 13 games played by Barry Young in his only season at the club in the year 2000.
Max Bailey (four games in number 36) did play in a Premiership after moving to number 39, via number 1, and Josh Kennedy (three games in number 36) has made a very successful career at another club. Others to wear number 36 in the past 45 years include Paul Considine, Andrew Demetriou, Ricky Nixon, Matthew Dent, Tim Boyle, Jordan Lisle, Derick Wanganeen and Kieran Lovell.
Hawthorn has played 93 games in Round 5 for 41 wins and 52 losses (having a bye in 1993). The Hawks won their Round 5 games from 2015 to 2017, before losing to North Melbourne last season. Hawthorn will be seeking a first Round 5 win against Geelong since 1954, having suffered defeats in 1957, 1980, 2011 and 2014.
10 years ago, in Round 5 2009, Hawthorn ground out an 18-point win against West Coast in Launceston – 11.8.74 to 7.14.58. Garry Moss, in just his fifth AFL game, showed great promise with 24 disposals and four goals, while captain Sam Mitchell starred with a 40-disposal game.
25 years ago, in Round 5 1994, Hawthorn produced one of the most stunning form reversals in the club’s history. After a win in Round 1, the Hawks had lost their next three matches by a combined margin of 268 points. Few gave the last-placed Hawthorn any chance of victory in a match against the high-flying West Coast in Perth.
However, the return from injury of Jason Dunstall, Chris Langford and Jason Taylor transformed the team and, after a slow start, the Hawks stunned the home crowd by taking complete control - winning 19.15.129 to 8.10.58. Dunstall kicked five goals and, in an amazing debut Tim Hargreaves kicked four. Anthony Condon (30 disposals), Darren Jarman (25) and Paul Cooper (23) led a dominant midfield.
40 years ago, in Round 5 1979, Hawthorn thrashed Richmond at the MCG by 79 points – 24.17.161 to 11.16.82. Hawthorn trailed by 20 points at quarter time and only led by five points at half-time, before a blistering 9.8 to 1.4 last term reminded everyone of the quality of the reigning Premiers. Leigh Matthews was at his brilliant best with 29 disposals and seven goals, while Kevin Ablett kicked a career-high four goals and Peter Knights was also outstanding.
However, this game is not remembered so much for Hawthorn’s performance, but for a high mark taken by Richmond full-forward Michael Roach over Hawthorn full-back Kelvin Moore and his namesake, ruckman Terry Moore, who was making his first appearance in brown and gold after crossing from North Melbourne.
Jason Dunstall holds the club’s individual goal-kicking record against Geelong kicking 12 goals in Round 1 of both 1990 and 1992.
