Hawthorn will be playing just its sixth MCG home game against North Melbourne when the two clubs clash on Saturday afternoon.

The reason there have been so few MCG home games against North is that, since the Hawks began playing home games at the MCG in 2000, they have also hosted North in six home games at Aurora Stadium and two at Docklands.

Hawthorn has tended to struggle in MCG home games against the Kangaroos, winning just two of five, and even the victories, in 2001 and 2013, by the same narrow margin of just three points. However, overall against North at the MCG when away games and Finals are included, the Hawks are marginally ahead with 15 wins, 14 losses and one draw.

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If history is any guide, last week’s loss in Round 20 certainly will not preclude Hawthorn winning the 2016 Premiership. Several of Hawthorn’s previous flag-winning sides have lost in Round 20, namely the 1971, 1978, 1983, 1989 and 2008 teams. In fact, only two Hawthorn Premiership teams (1961 and 1988) have not lost at least once in the last five home and away games of the season.

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Last Saturday’s debutant Kurt Heatherley who was born on 1 January 1995 is the first Hawk to have been born on New Year’s Day. Prior to Heatherley the earliest in a year that a Hawthorn player had been born was 2 January, a birthday shared by three Hawks – Geoff Wilson (1940), Chris Langford (1963) and Billy Nicholls (1981).

Heatherley will also be hoping to emulate some other illustrious wearers of the number 34. Between 1979 and 2004 the number 34 was worn by just two players - John Kennedy Jnr. (1979-91) and Mark Graham (1993-2004) - both of whom played over 200 games. More recently Brent Renouf wore 34 in the 2008 Premiership success.

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The 171 games Hawthorn has played against North Melbourne is the highest tally Hawthorn has played against any club. In those games, the Hawks have recorded 94 wins, two draws and 75 losses.

The most recent Round 21 clash between Hawthorn and North Melbourne was ten years ago, in
Round 21 2006. It was the first match between the two teams at Aurora Stadium and the crowd of 18,836 saw the Hawks prevail in a particularly low-scoring game – 7.16.58 to 4.12.36. Remarkably, North did not kick a goal after quarter time. Hawthorn had just three goal-kickers with Ben Dixon 3, Lance Franklin 2 and Mark Williams 2, while Tim Clarke had the most disposals with 28.

Interestingly, five members of each team which played that game remain on their club’s lists a decade later. Also worth noting is that the North team had two ex-Hawks (Jade Rawlings and Nathan Thompson), plus a future one (David Hale) playing. In fact, a further two Hawks played for North Melbourne in 2006 with Jonathan Hay crossing to Arden Street that season after a 149-game Hawthorn career, and Josh Gibson, who made his Kangaroos debut in 2006 before moving to Hawthorn in 2010.

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Since it was first contested in 1970, Round 21 has been one of the best rounds for Hawthorn, with 32 wins and only 14 defeats, including victories in 13 consecutive Round 21 matches between 1982 and 1994 and eight consecutive wins between 2006 and 2013. That most recent run was broken by a loss to Fremantle in Perth in 2014 and was followed by a defeat against Port Adelaide at Docklands last season.

A special Round 21 win was way back in 1971 when an amazing crowd of 41,312 packed Victoria Park to see a top-of-the-ladder clash between the Hawks and Magpies. Hawthorn won by 35 points – 20.20.140 to 15.15.105 – just the club’s fourth win at the venue since joining the League in 1925. The stars shone brightly with Peter Hudson kicking nine goals and Leigh Matthews collecting 31 possessions.

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Another feature of Hawthorn’s Round 21 wins is massive winning margins. In fact, five of the 27 one hundred point victories in Hawthorn history have occurred in Round 21, more than in any other round. These were in 1983 (versus Melbourne), 1986 (Geelong), 1991 (Fitzroy), 2010 (Fremantle) and 2011 (Port Adelaide).

Five years ago, in Round 21 2011, Hawthorn 31.11.197 defeated Port Adelaide 5.2.32. Lance Franklin kicked eight goals and Cyril Rioli six, while Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis and Liam Shiels all had over 30 disposals.

30 years ago, in Round 21 1986, Hawthorn led Geelong by three points at half-time, 10.8 to 10.5. In the second half Hawthorn added an incredible 25.7 to 3.7 to win by 135 points – 35.15.225 to 13.12.90. Jason Dunstall kicked nine goals, but was eclipsed for the three Brownlow votes by Terry Wallace. Robert Dipierdomenico was probably a bit unlucky not to add more votes for his 33 disposal game in what proved to be his Brownlow-winning year.

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The big guns, Peter Hudson and Jason Dunstall, share Hawthorn’s Round 21 individual goal-kicking record, with Hudson kicking nine in 1970 and 1971, and Dunstall the same tally in 1986 and 1989. The 13 goals Lance Franklin kicked against North Melbourne in 2012 set a new record for Hawthorn against the Kangaroos, breaking the previous high of 10 kicked jointly by Alec Albiston (1940) and Jason Dunstall (1988).