THIS weekend, Jordan Lewis will become the youngest individual to play 250 games for Hawthorn.
When he takes the field at the Gabba on Saturday, Lewis will be 30 years and 36 days old, slightly over a month younger than Leigh Matthews who was 30 years, 75 days when he played his 250th game in 1982.
It is important to note that the all-time VFL-AFL record for the youngest player to reach 250 games is held by former Hawk Russell Greene. He was just 28 years 101 days when he reached the milestone in Hawthorn colours in the 1985 Qualifying Final. However, Greene’s 250 games began with 120 at St Kilda, so he does not hold the Hawthorn record.
Lewis will be the 13th individual to play 250 games for Hawthorn. The first to do so was Don Scott against South Melbourne at Waverley Park on Anzac Day 1979. The most recent was Luke Hodge in the 2014 Grand Final, after Sam Mitchell played his 250th earlier in the 2014 season.
Both Mitchell and Hodge achieved the milestone in Hawthorn wins to take the club’s win-loss record in 250th games to 8-4. The last time a Hawthorn 250th resulted in a loss was in 2005 when Shane Crawford, like Lewis, played his 250th against Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.
*****
Hawthorn is playing away to Brisbane Lions for the first time since 2008. While the Hawks haven't played there for eight seasons, they had played there for 16 consecutive seasons from 1993 to 2008.
Hawthorn only won five of those 16 games, recording victories in 1993, 1994, 1998, 2000 and 2008 (Hawthorn also lost a game against Essendon at the Gabba in 1981). The highlights for the Hawks at the venue have included Jason Dunstall’s 1000th career goal in 1994 and a crucial win in Round 18 2000, when Nick Holland deservedly got the three Brownlow votes for pulling in a career-high 18 marks.
Lewis thrives on the big stage, says Hodge ahead of #Lewy250
A crowd of 30,019 attended the most recent encounter in 2008. The game was close all night with margins of four, eight and two points at the changes, before the Hawks prevailed in the high-scoring affair - 19.16 (130) to 17.16 (118).
In total, the two clubs have met 44 times since Brisbane joined the League in 1987, with the Hawks having recorded 28 victories and suffered 16 defeats. After Hawthorn won 12 of the first 13 games between 1987 and 1995, the Bears/Lions had their dominant period, but now the Hawks have won nine of the past ten encounters.
*****
Last Friday night’s attendance of 61,552 continued a strong recent trend of Hawthorn being able to attract crowds of over 50,000 to home games against interstate opponents.
Until 2012, the only such attendance was the 72,130 who attended the final game at Waverley in 1999. Hawthorn attracted over 50,000 to an MCG home game against West Coast in 2012, and have done so in the last four seasons against Sydney, with the highest crowd being 72,768 in 2014.
*****
Hawthorn’s Round 10 record is just positive with 46 wins and 45 defeats. Hawthorn lost ten consecutive Round 10 games from 1941 to 1950, but then won seven in a row from 1958 to 1964, and 11 out of 12 from 1968 to 1979.
Last time we met: Brisbane Lions
In the decade between 2000 and 2009, Round 10 was Hawthorn’s hoodoo round, with just one win. This came in 2007 when Hawthorn beat Port Adelaide at Football Park.
Things have improved in the past six years with wins against Sydney (2010), Western Bulldogs (2011), North Melbourne (2012), Melbourne (2013) and St Kilda (2015). Just like in the previous decade, the one exception was an away game against Port Adelaide, in this case a loss at the Adelaide Oval in 2014.
*****
Twenty years ago, in Round 10 1996, the Hawks turned their season around with a stunning last quarter against Fremantle in Perth. Hawthorn had managed just two wins and a draw in the first nine rounds and were languishing in 13th position behind Fremantle, which had showed some promise in its second season in the AFL with four wins.
Behind the guernsey: Cyril Rioli
The game was even for three quarters with the Hawks holding a 10-point lead at the final change – 10.3 to 7.11. Remarkably, Hawthorn then added 7.5 to 0.0 in the last quarter to win by 57 points. It was a very even performance, but it was John Platten, Mark Graham and Daniel Chick who got the Brownlow votes. The result was a fitting tribute to Andy Collins in his 200th game.
*****
Forty years ago, in Round 10 1976, Hawthorn came from two points down at the final change to beat Richmond by 12 points at the MCG – 15.10 (100) to 13.10 (88). Leigh Matthews kicked five goals and Michael Moncrieff three, while Geoff Ablett was the leading kick-getter with 19. There was an enormous discrepancy in the free kick count with Richmond getting 43 and Hawthorn 23.
*****
Jason Dunstall holds the club individual goal-kicking record against Brisbane, a mark he set when he booted 11 against the Bears in the first ever match between the two clubs at Carrara in 1987.
Lance Franklin holds the Round 10 record as his 13 against North Melbourne in 2012 surpassed the previous round record of nine, held jointly by Peter Knights (1985), Paul Hudson (1991) and Jason Dunstall (1998), against Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon respectively.
