This Friday night, Hawthorn has the opportunity to equal its best ever home and away record. A win against the Swans would see the Hawks finish with 19 wins and just 3 defeats, a stellar record achieved in three previous seasons - 1971, 1988 and 1989. A loss would produce an 18-4 record, emulating the 1986 and 2011 seasons.

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A win against Sydney will also see Hawthorn claim its 9^th minor premiership. In the 8 previous seasons when the Hawks have topped the ladder at the end of the home and away season, they have gone on to win the Flag 5 times (1961, 1971, 1986, 1988 and 1989) and finished runners-up 3 times (1963, 1975 and 2012).

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This week’s game will be just the second time Hawthorn has played at Stadium Australia. The previous encounter was in Round 2 2009 and saw Sydney win by 38 points – 22.11.143 to 15.15.105. While the result was an upset, a mitigating factor was that the Hawks were missing 8 members of the previous season’s Premiership team. No member of the team managed to reach 20 disposals, the highest possession-getter being Xavier Ellis with 19, while Jarryd Roughead and Mark Williams both kicked 3 goals. Since then, Hawthorn has played 3 times at the SCG, losing in 2010, but winning in 2011 and 2012.

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Luke Bruest, Jarryd Roughead and Ben Stratton are now the only individuals to have played every game in 2013. Stratton has played 48 consecutive games since returning in the 2011 Semi Final against Sydney. He had played the first 24 games of his career consecutively after his debut in Round 3 2010 before serious injury saw him miss most of the 2011 season. He returned in Round 24, missed the Qualifying Final and was picked for the Semi Final. Stratton still has a long way to go to equal Andy Collins club record of 189 consecutive games (1988-96).

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Two of the most significant final round matches in Hawthorn history involved the Swans as the final home games at both Glenferrie and Waverley were played against them.

40 years ago, in Round 22 1973, a crowd of just 9,932 braved wet conditions at Glenferrie and saw the Hawks record a comfortable 37 point win against wooden spooners South Melbourne. After all the excitement of Peter Hudson’s comeback the previous week, replacement full forward Michael Moncrieff did very well kicking 6 goals, ably assisted by Leigh Matthews with 3.

26 years later, in Round 22 1999, a massive crowd of 72,130 saw Hawthorn dominate from the start before going on to securing a massive 23.15.153 to 11.2.68 win. The big forwards were in sparkling form as Nathan Thompson kicked 6 goals and Nick Holland 5, while Richard Taylor and Craig Treleven racked up the possessions in the midfield.

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For final round drama against the red and white it would be hard to go past 1929. After losing the game against South Melbourne at the Lake Oval, Hawthorn player Bill Hudd was attacked by several locals as police tried to escort him back to his car. Hudd, a former Geelong premiership player who was himself a policeman, had upset the South crowd when he tangled with a boy who was on the ground at three quarter time.

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Hawthorn has played South Melbourne / Sydney 153 times, recording 84 wins, 67 defeats and two draws. Each club had periods where they dominated the other with South putting together sequences of 15 wins (1929-37) and 13 wins (1944-51), while the Hawks’ best sequences were 13 from 1971 to 1977, followed by 11 from 1981 to 1986. Recent final round meetings with the Swans have not been good for Hawthorn, being thrashed by 54 points at the MCG in 2005 and 72 points at the SCG in 2007.

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Hawthorn takes an unbeaten Round 23 record into the coming weekend.  There has only been a Round 23 in five previous AFL seasons - 1991, 1992, 1994, 2011 and 2012. Hawthorn had the bye in 1992 and recorded good wins in the other 4 years. 

In Round 23 1991, Hawthorn thrashed Carlton by 98 points at Princes Park – 23.18.156 to 8.10.58. The highlight was a stunning 9.7 to 0.2 third quarter which took the margin from 38 to 97 points. Anthony Condon secured the 3 Brownlow votes with an amazing 44 disposal (27 kicks and 17 handballs) game.

Three years later, in Round 23 1994, the Hawks played a much closer game against the Brisbane Bears at the Gabba. Needing a win to sneak back into the Eight, Hawthorn dashed away to a 31 point quarter time, but the Bears fought back, before the Hawks steadied to win 15.12.102 to 13.13.91. The star of the day was Jason Dunstall, the first of his 6 goals being his 1000^th career goal, becoming just the third player after Gordon Coventry and Doug Wade to reach the mark (Tony Lockett and Gary Ablett Snr. did so subsequently).

In Round 23 2011, Hawthorn recorded a comfortable 46 point win against the Western Bulldogs at the MCG. Lance Franklin’s 5 goals earned him 2 Brownlow votes, while Luke Hodge and Brad Sewell, who each had 30 disposals, got 3 and 1 Brownlow vote respectively.

Last season was the first occasion when Round 23 was the final round and Hawthorn recorded a solid 25 point win against West Coast at the MCG, the victory being soured in the closing stages by a hamstring injury to Brent Guerra.

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Peter Hudson holds the individual goals record for Hawthorn against the Swans, twice kicking 13 in consecutive matches in Round 11, 1969 and Round 8, 1970. Both matches were at Glenferrie and on both occasions he kicked the very accurate 13.2. Jason Dunstall holds the Round 23 record with 6, recorded in 1994 (see above).