This Thursday night Hawthorn and Sydney will meet in a top-of-the-ladder clash for the fourth time.

Hawthorn won all three of the previous top-of-the-table games (two in 1986 and one in 2012), but went into all of them in second place on the ladder, rather than their current top place.

Overall, the Hawks have played 30 top-of-the-ladder games, winning 18 and losing 12, a record which includes a run of nine consecutive victories from 1977 to 1988. Hawthorn’s two most recent top-of-the-ladder clashes were in 2014, both of them resulting in Hawthorn defeats, against Geelong in Round 5 and Port Adelaide in Round 10. Hawthorn reversed both results in that season’s Finals Series.

Interestingly, only seven of Hawthorn’s 30 top-of-the table games have proved to be previews of the season’s Grand Final, and in four of those the result was reversed. Altogether Hawthorn has won the Premiership in ten of the 20 previous seasons in which it has contested a top-of-the-ladder clash.

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The first top-of-the-table clash against Sydney was in Round 7 1986, when Hawthorn took on the unbeaten Swans at Princes Park and came away with a 33 point win – 18.25.133 to 15.10.100.  Robert Dipierdomenico starred with 30 disposals, 2 goals and 3 Brownlow votes. The teams were also in the top two positions when they met at the SCG in Round 19 of the 1986 season.
However, the match of the round proved to be a mismatch, as Hawthorn exposed Sydney as pretenders by handing out a 98-point football lesson.

Monday’s Sun commented that “it was the Hawthorn of old – fast, furious, mean and very aggressive”. Particular features of the performance were the tackling, and the run-on style, especially in running the ball out of defence. A new record Sydney crowd of 39,763 saw Hawthorn 27.9.171 defeat Sydney 10.13.73. All the forwards got among the goals with Jason Dunstall and Dermott Brereton both kicking five, Peter Curran four and Gary Buckenara three. Best players included Peter Russo, Buckenara, Richard Loveridge, Michael Tuck and Robert Dipierdomenico. Dipierdomenico got another 3 Brownlow votes; votes which helped him win the Medal a few weeks later.

In Round 22 2012, the second placed Hawks looked in major trouble when they trailed ladder-leaders Sydney by 38 points at the 13 minute mark of the second quarter, but a stunning burst of 6.2 had levelled the scores by the 28 minute mark. The game then remained close for the duration. Sydney hit the lead by five points at the 27 minute mark of the last quarter, but goals to Shaun Burgoyne and Brad Sewell in quick succession saw the Hawks home by seven points – 15.12.102 to 14.11.95. Burgoyne got the three Brownlow votes for his 26 disposals and three goals.

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This week Hawthorn return to the SCG for the first time since 2012, having played away games against the Swans at Stadium Australia for the last three seasons.

The 2012 win squared the ledger against the Swans at the SCG at 12 wins apiece, but overall the Hawks have a winning record at the ground having also beaten North Melbourne there in 1979. The Hawks and Swans also have an even record at Stadium Australia with two wins each, the Hawthorn victories coming in 2013 and 2015, with Sydney prevailing in 2009 and 2014.

After the Swans moved to Sydney in 1982, the Hawks won the first five encounters between the two clubs at the SCG. Then after a couple of defeats, the Hawks won another four in a row to take the record to 9-2, before the tide turned after 1994. Since then the only wins for the brown and gold at the SCG have been in 2003, 2011 and 2012.

In the 17 point victory in 2003, Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell were both playing their 27th games and already their quality was becoming apparent as Mitchell got the three Brownlow votes and Hodge two. This Thursday night they shape up in game 299 for Mitchell and 278 for Hodge, coming off a game in Adelaide last week where they may once again have gained the top votes in the Brownlow.

In total, Hawthorn has played the Swans 161 times, recording 89 wins, 70 defeats and two draws. The last three matches between the two clubs have seen the away team win, with last season Sydney winning by 4 points at the MCG in Round 8 and Hawthorn at Stadium Australia by 89 points in Round 16, while the Swans repeated their MCG success in Round 9 this season with a 14 point victory.

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As discussed in last week’s column, this is just the third season in which Hawthorn has played games on a Thursday, the previous ones being 1963 and 2015. The other thing the years 1963 and 2015 have in common is that they are the only two seasons when Hawthorn has played in an October Grand Final. The Grand Final is of course scheduled for October again this year, so hopefully the pattern will hold.

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The Hawks have not lost in Round 17 since 2009, having had a draw against St Kilda in 2010, a bye in 2011 and wins against Collingwood, Western Bulldogs, Adelaide and Carlton in the last four seasons. Overall, Hawthorn has played 88 games in Round 17 for 35 wins, one draw and 52 defeats, a deficit of 17 which is the club’s biggest for any round.

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Peter Hudson holds the individual goals record for Hawthorn against the Swans, twice kicking 13, in both 1969 and 1970. He has also kicked the most goals in Round 17, a tally of 10 recorded against St Kilda, at Waverley, in 1977.