Reflecting on all the topical milestones and achievements, past and present, as we head into Round 5 of the 2018 season. This is 'Footy Flashbacks'....
On Sunday, Hawthorn recorded 18.7.115, the same score as in the 2008 Grand Final and the first time the Hawks have kicked that exact score since then. There have been five other totals of 115 in the intervening decade, but they were 17.13 (4 times) and 15.25 (once).
Melbourne’s 6.12.48 on Sunday was the 19th score of 50 or below to which Hawthorn has restricted a team since the beginning of the 2010 season. In contrast, the Hawks have only scored 50 or below on three occasions in the same period.
30 years ago, in Round 5 1988, Hawthorn also played North Melbourne. The Hawks kicked one of their highest scored 31.19.205 and with North kicking 19.14.128 it produced what remains the third highest aggregate score (333 points) for a Hawthorn game.
Jason Dunstall kicked seven goals and debutant Stephen Lawrence kicked five. The North team included Alastair Clarkson, who had just turned 20 and was playing his 10th game for the Kangaroos.
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David Mirra’s debut at 27 years, 26 days made him the oldest Hawthorn debutant, without previously playing for another AFL club, since Greg Whittlesea at 27 years, 285 days in 1991.
The oldest ever Hawthorn debutant who had not previously played for another club was Jim Logan who played his first, and only, Hawthorn game in 1942 at 31 years, 48 days.
North Melbourne has been a regular Round 5 opponent for Hawthorn in modern times.
The most recent encounter was a 60-point Hawthorn win at Docklands in Round 5 2015, in which both Luke Breust and Jack Gunston kicked four goals.
The clash between the Hawks and Kangaroos five years ago, in Round 5 2013, was much closer, with Hawthorn winning by just three points – 14.15.99 to 13.18.96. The MCG crowd saw Cyril Rioli star with three third quarter goals before tearing his hamstring in the final term. Max Bailey also kicked a career-high three goals. However, in terms of the imminent three-peat, a crucial aspect of the day was that Brian Lake made his Hawthorn debut.
Jarryd Roughead will this week play his 258th game which will see him join the great rover John Platten in equal 13th place on the Hawthorn games-played list. Meanwhile, Liam Shiels, who was in such brilliant form against Melbourne, is about to enter the top 50 on the same list, this week equalling Michael Osborne (who is currently in 50th position on 168 games) and next week going past him.
Luke Breust’s excellent start to the season has seen him getting rapidly closer to entering the top ten all-time Hawthorn career goalkickers. His four goals against Melbourne took him to 315 career goals, just five behind Michael Tuck (320) who currently holds tenth position.
Last week this column highlighted the fact that Hawthorn had not lost on 15 April since 1978, a record the current team kept intact in emphatic style against Melbourne on Sunday.
This week there is an even longer date record to defend, with the Hawks not having lost on 22 April since 1972. The six consecutive victories on 22 April include three by under a goal – by two points against Collingwood at Victoria Park in 1978; by four points against Geelong in Launceston in 2007; and by three points in the memorable Paul Puopolo inspired win against Adelaide at the MCG on a Friday night two seasons ago.
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.
Hawthorn has played 92 games in Round 5 for 41 wins and 51 losses (having a bye in 1993). The Hawks have won their past three Round 5 games with victories against North Melbourne (2015), Adelaide (2016) and West Coast last season.
20 years ago, in Round 5 1998, Hawthorn ended its worst losing sequence in the modern era with a 41-point win against the Brisbane Lions at Waverley. Eight consecutive losses at the end of 1997 had been followed by a further four at the start of 1998. However, the run of 12 losses ended in Round 5 1998 when the Hawks defeated Brisbane Lions – 18.16.124 to 12.11.83. Jason Dunstall kicked six goals and got the three Brownlow votes, while the other vote-getters were Paul Salmon and Richard Taylor.
10 years ago, in Round 5 2008, Brisbane Lions were again the Round 5 opponent, this time in front of 30,019 fans at the Gabba. It was a high-scoring and close encounter with the margin never more than two goals at the breaks, before Hawthorn prevailed 19.16.130 to 17.16.118. It was something of a shoot-out between the big forwards with Lance Franklin booting eight for the Hawks and Daniel Bradshaw seven for the Lions. Brad Sewell, Sam Mitchell and Shane Crawford were all excellent in the midfield for Hawthorn.
In Round 5 1969 Peter Hudson kicked a club record 16 goals against Melbourne at Glenferrie. It remains the record for the round and has only been beaten once in any other round, by Jason Dunstall’s 17 against Richmond in 1992. Lance Franklin’s 13 goals in 2012 set a new club record against the Kangaroos, breaking the previous high of 10 kicked jointly by Alec Albiston (1940) and Jason Dunstall (1988).
