Paul Puopolo is poised to equal the Hawthorn appearance record in the number 28.
The current club record of 78 games in number 28 is held by Chris Langford, who wore it from 1983 to 1986 before shifting to number 24 for the remainder of his career.
Other Hawthorn number 28s include Maurie Considine, John McArthur, Terry Gay, Stuart Trott, Alex McDonald and Brad Scott.
While Puopolo has played all of his 77 games to date in number 28, two of his teammates also began their careers in the number before moving to lower numbers - Sam Mitchell wore 28 in 30 games in 2002-03, followed by Brad Sewell who had the number for 18 games in 2004-05.
Last September, Puopolo became just the third individual to wear number 28 in a Hawthorn Premiership joining McArthur (1961) and Langford (1986).
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This Friday night Hawthorn will play its 900th away game. So far, in 899 away games, Hawthorn has won 373, lost 520 and drawn 6. Perhaps fortunately, this week’s opponent North Melbourne is one of just four other clubs against which Hawthorn has a positive away record. The others are Gold Coast, Fremantle and Melbourne.
Hawthorn has a much better record in both home games and Finals. It has played 895 home games (482 wins, 409 losses and 4 draws) and 75 Finals (47 wins and 28 losses).
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The 168 games Hawthorn has played against North Melbourne is the highest tally Hawthorn has played against any club. In those games, the Hawks have recorded 92 wins, 2 draws and 74 losses and have won the last four since losing at Aurora Stadium in 2010. The two clubs have met 8 times at Docklands, with the Hawks holding a 5-3 advantage, including the last four. The two clubs met there in Round 22 last season with the Hawks winning a high-scoring game by 14 points – 17.15.117 to 15.13.103.
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Hawthorn currently has three players on its list who began their AFL careers at North Melbourne - Josh Gibson, David Hale and Ben Ross. In the 85 years before them there were only a very select group of players to have come to Hawthorn after beginning their careers at North Melbourne.
The only other examples before them were Terry Moore, Andrew Demetriou and Anthony Rock. There has been much heavier traffic in the other direction with 11 players heading from the Hawks to the Roos.
They include such big names as Alec Albiston in earlier days and in more recent times Nathan Thompson, Lance Picioane and Jonathan Hay.
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With 8 wins from 8 games, Angus Litherland has now entered the top ten Hawthorn players with the most wins from debut. Meanwhile Luke Breust continues to move up both the consecutive games and goals in consecutive games charts.
Breust has now played 60 consecutive games since he last missed in Round 4 2012, and he has kicked at least one goal in his last 21 games, having last failed to do so against Richmond in Round 19 last season.
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Traditionally, Round 16 has been a good round for Hawthorn, recording 47 wins and 42 losses.
The Hawks lost five consecutive Round 16 games from 2004 to 2008, before getting back on track with victories in the past five seasons against Collingwood (2009), Brisbane Lions (2010 and 2011), Western Bulldogs (2012) and Port Adelaide (2013).
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5 years ago, in Round 16 2009, the Hawks produced one of their best performances of a difficult season to beat Collingwood on a Saturday night at the MCG – 18.13.121 to 11.10.76. Luke Hodge was a worthy recipient of the 3 Brownlow votes for a game where he had 34 disposals and kicked 3 goals.
20 years ago, in Round 16 1994, the Hawks thrashed St Kilda at Waverley – 21.16.142 to 11.12.78. Jason Dunstall, in his 200th game, kicked 5 goals, while the midfielders Ben Allan (4) and Shane Crawford (3) also impacted the scoreboard. Other goods players were John Platten, Andrew Gowers, Darren Jarman and Anthony Condon.
30 years ago, in Round 16 1984, Hawthorn had an even bigger Waverley win defeating Richmond by 88 points – 28.17.185 to 14.13.97. Peter Curran and John Kennedy both kicked 6 goals, while Dermott Brereton booted 4 and Michael McCarthy 3. Russell Greene had an outstanding game accumulating 38 disposals, taking 11 marks and kicking 2 goals.
40 years ago, in Round 16 1974, 4th placed Hawthorn ground out a 21 point win against Footscray at the Western Oval – 12.9.81 to 8.12.60. The roving combination of Leigh Matthews and Peter Crimmins was excellent and Charlie Grummisch continued his good run of goals with another 3.
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The individual match goal kicking record for Hawthorn in Round 16 is shared by Peter Hudson, Jason Dunstall and Dermott Brereton who kicked 11 in 1970, 1989 and 1990 respectively.
