1. Goddard gets his nose out of joint
Essendon captain Brendon Goddard likes to lead from the front, but this time he paid the price for leading with his nose. At the opening bounce, Goddard was a victim of friendly fire when he copped an accidental elbow from ruckman Matthew Leuenberger. The champion midfielder spent most of the first term off the field as Dons doctor Bruce Reid straightened his snout in the rooms and worked to stem the flow of blood. Goddard was kitted up with a microphone for the night and at one point remarked that he'd suffered a few broken noses but never one as bad as this. He battled on and, in basically three quarters, finished with 25 disposals.
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2. The Bombers' bright opening
Essendon had started badly in their three previous marquee games this year – in the Friday night game against Port Adelaide in round three, the Anzac Day clash with Collingwood and the Dreamtime game against Richmond – but the Bombers surprised everyone when they jumped out of the blocks against the triple-reigning premier. Young key forward Joe Daniher slotted two goals in the opening six minutes and, two minutes later, the Dons' lead should stretched to 13 points, but big man Mark Jamar's regulation set shot from 40 metres missed the left point-post by a considerable margin. For the next 35 minutes it was one-way traffic in the other direction as the Hawks fired off the next 15 scoring shots, blazing 8.7.
3. Hawk forwards share the love
The Bombers were always going to struggle to contain Hawthorn's forwards and the signs were ominous by half-time, by which stage the Hawks already had five multiple goalkickers – dynamic duo Cyril Rioli and Paul Puopolo had three apiece, while Jack Gunston (who had been in doubt with a bruised foot), young key forward Tim O'Brien and teenager Kade Stewart had two each. Sharpshooter Luke Breust joined the party with three of the Hawks' four goals in the third term, and he, Gunston and Puopolo added further majors in the last quarter. Puopolo also made a couple of spectacular marking attempts, which added life to a lopsided contest.
4. Silk as smooth as every in milestone match
Hawthorn's evergreen veteran Shaun Burgoyne further enhanced his greatness by becoming just the second player in AFL/VFL history to play 150 games with two clubs. (The first was Bernie Quinlan, who played 177 games with Footscray and 189 with Fitzroy between 1969-86.) It was another amazing milestone for a player who has already played several seasons longer than expected after suffering knee issues at Port Adelaide. The man they call 'Silk' was up to his sublime tricks again, most notably scooping up a Josh Gibson handball on the half-volley and kicking truly from 45 metres. The 33-year-old performed his role without dominating, ending up with 17 touches.
5. Lopsided contest on a wet night fails to draw a crowd
Essendon and Hawthorn clashes at Etihad Stadium had previously attracted an impressive average crowd of 47,000, but this clash between understrength heavyweight and cellar dweller was never going to reach those heights, and drew just 27,567 – their worst crowd since 1990. The Hawks aimed to get through the game unscathed and, secondarily, boost their percentage, which they did handsomely, in an atmosphere that was decidedly flat. It's a shame that the depleted Dons found themselves in a prime slot that deserved a more competitive encounter.
