HAWTHORN will be aiming for a 13^th consecutive win against Melbourne, when it takes on the Demons at the MCG on Saturday.

A win will make it the joint sixth longest winning run against an opposition club in Hawthorn history, equal with a winning sequence against South Melbourne from 1971 to 1977 and the current 13 consecutive wins against Carlton.

The modern-day Hawks have a long way to go to equal the club’s all-time best sequence against an opponent of 22, also against Melbourne, set between 1973 and 1984. Other lengthy Hawthorn winning runs have been 20 against St Kilda, 16 versus Richmond, 15 against Fitzroy and 14 versus North Melbourne.

As well the present sequences against Carlton and Melbourne, the Hawks have also lengthy unbroken runs of eight wins versus Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs, and seven against Adelaide, Brisbane Lions, and Gold Coast.

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Hawthorn’s winning sequence against Melbourne began in Round 2 2007. Having lost badly to Brisbane Lions at the Gabba in Round 1, the Hawks went in as outsiders against Melbourne at the MCG. Before an Easter Monday crowd of 43,197, the Hawks trailed by 13 points at quarter time, but then took control, leading by 13 at half-time, 29 at three quarter time and winning 17.14 (116) to 14.10 (94).

There were four multiple goal-kickers - Mark Williams (six), Tim Boyle (three), Ben Dixon (two) and Trent Croad (two) - while Jordan Lewis (three) and Brad Sewell (two) got Brownlow votes. Others in the best included Ladson, Williams, Mitchell and Campbell.

Sixteen of the 22 members of that Hawthorn team of underdogs went on to become premiership players just 18 months later, while the beaten favourites slumped to 14^th in 2007 and finished with the wooden spoon in both 2008 and 2009. 

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In 2008, the second win of Hawthorn’s current winning sequence of 12 against Melbourne squared the ledger at 74-74 in the head-to-head battle between the two clubs, the first time it had been level since it was 0-0 in 1925. The subsequent 10 wins have put Hawthorn in front – 84 to 74, after 158 games.

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Melbourne was Hawthorn’s first ever Round 11 opponent back in 1925. The two clubs most recent Round 11 meeting was in 1998 and it produced a comfortable win for the Demons. The teams met three times in Round 11 in the 1980s, with the Hawks having big wins in 1982 and 1986, but a narrow loss in 1989.

Round 11 1971 saw Hawthorn play in the match of the day against Melbourne.  The two teams which had finished eighth and 10^th the previous season were now occupying the top two positions on the ladder and a crowd of 52,256 turned up on the Queen’s Birthday Monday to see the match.

Hawthorn set up the win with a brilliant 7.1 to 1.5 opening quarter. Melbourne battled away for the next three quarters, eventually reducing the Hawks’ winning margin to 20 points – 14.10 (94) to 10.14 (74). Peter Hudson kicked five goals, while Peter Crimmins, Kevin Heath and Bruce Stevenson all booted two.

The victory meant Hawthorn reached the half-way mark of the home and away season in first place with a 10-1 record, while Melbourne slipped to fourth at 8-3. Hawthorn kept its momentum going in the second half of the season, however, Melbourne only managed a further three wins and a draw to finish seventh.

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Hawthorn has a good recent record in Round 11, having won its last six, a sequence which stretches back to 2008 (with byes in 2013 and 2015). The sequence includes two wins by the appropriate margin of 11 points (MCG victories against Sydney in 2009 and Port Adelaide in 2010). In the Hawks most recent Round 11 game in 2014, they beat GWS Giants at the MCG by seven points. 

Despite the recent good results, Round 11 remains overall one of Hawthorn’s worst rounds, with the club winning just 36 of the 89 games, with 51 defeats and two draws.

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Twenty years ago, in Round 11 1996, Hawthorn backed up its win the previous week against Fremantle in Perth with a thrilling victory against Adelaide at Waverley. The Hawks trailed the Crows by 39 points early in the second quarter, but finished strongly to win 16.12 (108) to 14.15 (99). Jason Dunstall kicked nine goals, including five in the third quarter. Dunstall put Hawthorn in front in the final term before Tim Hargreaves kicked the sealer.

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Forty years ago, in Round 11 1976, a massive crowd of 33,692 packed into Princes Park for a top-of-the-table clash between Hawthorn and Geelong. In a tight tough encounter the Hawks prevailed 11.22 (88) to 11.10 (76), with Leigh Matthews and Alan Goad among the best.

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The leading individual goalkicker for Hawthorn against Melbourne is Peter Hudson who booted 16 goals at Glenferrie in Round 5, 1969. The Round 11 individual goal-kicking record is also held by Hudson who kicked 13 goals against South Melbourne at Glenferrie in 1969, just six weeks after his 16 versus Melbourne.