Shane Crawford made his debut 20 years ago this week.
In Round 1 1993, Crawford played the first of his 305 games in front of 25,098 fans at Waverley on Saturday 27 March. He had 19 disposals and kicked a goal in Hawthorn’s 23-point victory over Melbourne – 13.15.93 to 10.10.70.
The following week, in his second game, Crawford kicked five goals against Sydney at the SCG, securing three Brownlow votes and earning himself the second ever Rising Star Award nomination.
Other Round 1 debut anniversaries include Tony Hall (25 years ago in 1988) and Ken Judge (30 years ago in 1983). Fifty years ago, Round 1 1963 saw the return of Brendan Edwards and Allan Woodley, the former after a year off following his BOG performance in the 1961 Grand Final and the latter after three years studying osteopathy in England.
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Hawthorn will have to overcome two hoodoos to beat Geelong in Round 1. The fact that Geelong has won the past nine matches between the two clubs has been well-documented, but there is also a Round 1 odd years curse to conquer.
The last time Hawthorn won in Round 1 in an odd numbered year was 2001. Since then, there have been losses in 2003 (Melbourne), 2005 (Sydney), 2007 (Brisbane), 2009 (Geelong) and 2011 (Adelaide). In contrast, Hawthorn has won its last five Round 1 games in even-numbered years beating Melbourne (2004, 2008 and 2010), Fremantle (2006) and Collingwood (2012). The last time the Hawks put together consecutive Round 1 wins was a streak of six from 1992 to 1997.
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In 88 previous Round 1 games, Hawthorn has won 37 and lost 51. Hawthorn has played Geelong on eight occasions in Round 1, with the results favouring the Cats 6-2. Both Hawks’ wins came at Waverley, in 1990 and 1992.
Throughout the summer of 1989-90 many said if the 1989 Grand Final had gone another five minutes, Geelong would have prevailed. On Saturday 31 March, Round 1 of the 1991 season, the two teams played a further 120 minutes of football and Hawthorn, this time not incapacitated by injury, prevailed by the not insignificant margin of 115 points – 28.24.192 to 11.11.77.
Geelong actually led by 11 points at quarter time, but from then on kicked 25.20 to 6.8, capped off with a 10.6 to 0.4 last quarter. Jason Dunstall kicked 12 goals, Dermott Brereton 5, Ray Jencke 3 and James Morrissey 3.The Hawks’ dominance was emphasised by the disposals being 350 to 223 in their favour, with leading possession-getters being Anthony Condon (28), Dean Anderson (26) and John Kennedy (26).
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Hawthorn and Geelong’s most recent Round 1 meeting was in 2009, a re-match of the previous year’s Grand Final and the start of the recent run of losses. In this game, Geelong led by 37 points at the final change before the Hawks stormed home with a six goal to one final quarter, with both Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead kicking three goals for the term, to finish with five and four respectively. The best midfielders for Hawthorn were Sam Mitchell (34 disposals) and Travis Tuck (31).
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Overall, the Hawks and Cats have played 150 times, with Hawthorn winning 67, Geelong 82 and one draw. At the MCG, the record is 12-4 in Geelong’s favour, although of course it was in the Hawks’ favour at 4-3 after the 2008 Grand Final.
As has been well-documented, Hawthorn has lost its last nine matches against Geelong. This is the club’s longest ever losing sequence against Geelong since the 1960s. If the Hawks lose on Monday, it will be only the second time in the modern era when Hawthorn has lost ten matches in a row to an opponent, the other being ten in a row to Essendon from 1998 to 2005.
On the other side of the ledger, Hawthorn’s longest winning run against Geelong is 11 set between 1985 and 1990.
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The individual goal-kicking records for Round 1 and against Geelong are identical - Jason Dunstall who kicked 12 in Round 1 of both 1990 and 1992, both times against Geelong (see above). Others to reach double figures in Round 1 were Alec Albiston (10 in 1940), Peter Hudson (10 in 1968) and Leigh Matthews (11 in 1981), while the only other double figure tally against Geelong was by Wally Culpitt (10 in 1944).
