THIS week, Carlton will become the 14^th different opponent which Hawthorn has played at Aurora Stadium.

This will leave Collingwood, Essendon and Melbourne as the only clubs which the Hawthorn have not played in Launceston.

The Hawks have a 9-4 record in initial meetings against other clubs at Aurora Stadium, a record they will be hoping can be further improved against the Blues on Saturday.

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Michael Tuck is about to lose the career games record which he has held for 26 years.

Tuck equaled Kevin Bartlett’s then record of 403 games in Round 21 1990 in a 31 point win against Carlton at Princes Park.

On the following Saturday, Tuck claimed the record outright, playing his 404^th game versus Melbourne at the MCG.

It did not prove to be a winning day for the Hawks, who fell as far as 57 points down during the third quarter before rallying to go down to the Demons by just 12 points – 17.14 (116) to 15.14 (104). The two teams met again the following week in the elimination final with Melbourne again victorious.

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Jack Gunston’s three goals against Richmond have taken him into the top 20 Hawthorn career goalkickers.

Gunston now has 241 goals, two more than Nick Holland who he displaced from the top 20. There are now four current Hawks in the top 20 with Jarryd Roughead in sixth place with 491, Luke Breust 15^th (259) and Cyril Rioli 17^th (255).

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Hawthorn takes long winning sequences against both its opponent and at the venue into this Saturday’s game. The Hawks have won their last 13 matches against the Blues and their last 18 at Aurora Stadium.

If Hawthorn beats Carlton this weekend, the winning sequence against the Blues of 14 will be the club’s equal fifth longest winning sequence against any opponent.

Hawthorn’s list of consecutive wins against other clubs is headed by 22 consecutive wins against Melbourne from 1973 to 1984, followed by St Kilda (20), Richmond (16), Fitzroy (15) and North Melbourne (14).

Prior to the current sequence, Hawthorn’s previous record winning run against the Blues was seven from 1984 to 1986. Overall, Hawthorn has won 61 and lost 102 of its 163 games against Carlton.

Victory this Saturday will mean that for the fourth consecutive season, Hawthorn will have won all its Aurora Stadium games.

The Hawks most recent loss at the venue was in Round 5 2012 against Sydney.

Since then, Hawthorn has won 18 consecutive games in Launceston, its best sequence of results at any venue in club history.

The best records at any other venues were 13 consecutive wins at the MCG in 2014-15, 12 at Princes Park in 1988-89, and 11 at Waverley in both 1989-90 and 1991-92. Overall, Hawthorn has won 40 and lost 11 of its 51 games at Aurora Stadium.

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Five of the last six games between Hawthorn and Richmond have now drawn crowds of over 50,000, following the attendance of 51,892 at last Sunday’s game.

This more than doubles the previous numbers of such attendances. Prior to 2012, the previous four 50,000 plus crowds were in 1970, 1980, 1994 and 2001.

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Hawthorn’s most recent Round 19 game against Carlton was ten years ago in 2006.

That victory in Round 19 2006 clash was the third in the Hawks current winning sequence against the Blues.

The Hawks won 17.11 (113) to 13.12 (90) with Lance Franklin booting six and Mark Williams four, while Sam Mitchell (29), Chance Bateman (28) and Brad Sewell (26) were prolific ball winners.

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Twenty years ago, in Round 19 1996, Jason Dunstall kicked the second highest tally of his career, 14 goals, as the Hawks beat Footscray by 67 points on a Saturday night at Waverley.

Thirty years ago, in Round 19 1986, Hawthorn thrashed Sydney by 98 points in a top-of the-table clash with Sydney at the SCG.

Forty years ago, in Round 19 1976, the Hawks found themselves in unexpected travel when they trailed South Melbourne by three points at the final change. Hawthorn eventually won by 14 points, 13.19 (97) to 12.11 (83). Kelvin Matthews was the leading goal-kicker with five goals, while his older brother Leigh had the most disposals with 30.

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Overall in Round 19 Hawthorn has won 29 and lost 24 of its 53 games.

There was a Round 19 played from 1945 to 1949 (to make up for games missed during the War) and again in 1952 (to compensate for the ‘propaganda round’). However, it did not become a permanent fixture until 1968.

After losses in 2012 (Geelong) and 2013 (Richmond), Hawthorn has won its last two Round 19 games, against the Western Bulldogs in Launceston in 2014 and versus West Coast at Subiaco last season.

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Hawthorn’s great goal-kickers never managed big bags against Carlton.

Peter Hudson, Leigh Matthews and Jason Dunstall all had a top score of seven goals against the Blues – in 1968, 1978 and 1989 respectively.

The best individual tallies for Hawthorn against the Blues are nine by Peter Knights in 1985, eight by Garry Young (in a losing side) in 1959 and another eight by Jarryd Roughead in 2009.

Dunstall holds the individual goal-kicking record for Round 19, with his 14 in 1996 (see above).