THE number 5 guernsey holds a legendary place at the Hawthorn Football Club.

As Sam Mitchell runs out for his 300^th AFL game this weekend, the legend of this famous jumper number continues to grow.

The legacy of the number 5 really began to take shape in the time it was worn by the late Peter Crimmins.

Crimmins first donned the jumper in 1966, receiving it from John Fisher who played in the club’s first premiership in 1961.

An in-and-under on-baller, Crimmins wore the jumper in Hawthorn’s 1971 Grand Final win over St Kilda, where he played an outstanding game.

After being made captain at the beginning of the 1974 season, Crimmins was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the end of the same year.

Following bouts of chemotherapy and surgery he attempted to make a return to the field in 1975 when Hawthorn again returned to the Grand Final, this time against North Melbourne.

Crimmins made himself available for selection for the match, having played five reserve games in the lead up. The match committee decided against playing him, and the Hawks lost to the Kangaroos by 55 points.

His health continued to decline the following year, so much so that Crimmins was confined to his sickbed for the 1976 Grand Final – again between Hawthorn and North Melbourne – and was unable to attend the game.

John Kennedy Senior, who was the Hawthorn coach at the time, later said he believed the team were never going to lose after Crimmins sent a good luck telegram to the players prior to the game.

Hawthorn won the match by 30 points.

Some of Crimmins’ teammates took the premiership cup to his house that night to celebrate with him, and the photo of a thin-looking Crimmins holding the cup with a smile from ear to ear has gone down in Hawthorn folklore – the 1976 triumph now affectionately known as ‘Crimmo’s Cup’, after the Hawthorn great passed away three days after the game.

Hawthorn’s best and fairest award is now known as the Peter Crimmins Medal in his honour.

The number was retired for 15 years, before Andy Collins took on the guernsey in 1993 – Crimmins’ family enjoyed watching Collins play, as he reminded them of the late Hawthorn champion.

Collins had already played in three Hawthorn premierships (1988, 1989 and 1991) at that point, and was regarded as a star backman.

He won a Peter Crimmins Medal in 1990, finishing fifth in the Brownlow in the same year – Collins wore the jumper until his retirement at the end of 1996.

Daniel Harford wore the number 5 from 1997 until the end of 2003, making a strong contribution to the club in this period where he played 153 games.

By this point, Sam Mitchell’s star was beginning to rise – he was fresh off winning the NAB rising star in 2003 and part of a new generation of young players, including current captain Luke Hodge.

When Harford left the club, the number 5 was handed to Mitchell.

Mitchell continued his development until he was made Hawthorn’s captain in 2008, leading the side to a famous Grand Final in over Geelong in the same year.

After handing the captaincy on in 2010, Mitchell has remarkably gotten better and better over time – he has now played in four premierships, won four Crimmins Medals and has polled the second-most Brownlow votes of any current player.

As he takes to the field this Sunday, he adds another chapter to the splendid history of the number 5 jumper at Hawthorn.