Jarryd Roughead has gone to the top of the AFL goalkicking table for the first time since 2009.  

Roughead’s bag of 5 against Port Adelaide took him to 47 goals for the season and a share of top place with Josh Kennedy of West Coast. He was previously the League’s leading goalkicker for four rounds from Rounds 5 to 8 in 2009, twice sharing the lead with others and twice leading outright.

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As South Australian football prepares to move to the Adelaide Oval in 2014, Football Park has joined the list of grounds where Hawthorn’s final game was a win. Others include Brunswick Street and Punt Road (both 1964), Glenferrie (1973), Waverley Park (1999) and Princes Park (2003).

Given the strength of Hawthorn in the years when it last played at other traditional Victorian grounds, it is surprising that the club finished with defeats at several of them. The venues where Hawthorn’s last game was a loss include Victoria Park (1994), Windy Hill (1986), Junction Oval (1984), Arden Street (1984), Lake Oval (1980) and Moorabbin (1992). Hawthorn’s final game at the Western Oval was a draw in 1996.

Hawthorn played a total of 29 games at Football Park for 10 wins and 19 losses. This was made up of a 4-11 record in 15 games versus Adelaide and a 6-8 record in 14 games against Port.

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Hawthorn will be attempting to equal its record for most consecutive wins at Aurora Stadium when it takes on the Western Bulldogs this Saturday. The Hawks have won their last 6 in Launceston, one short of the current record of 7 set in 2010-11. Overall, Hawthorn has played 39 games at the ground for 28 wins and 11 losses.

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Hawthorn goes into this week’s game with a narrow lead over the Western Bulldogs on the head-to-head history, 77-75, with 2 draws, having hit the front with wins in the four most recent encounters. The close head-to-head record is remarkable when, in Premierships, the Hawks lead 10-1, and are ahead 16-2 in Grand Final appearances. It is explained by the fact that while both teams struggled in their early years after joining the League, Footscray were significantly better than Hawthorn. Then, in the 1970s and 1980s when the Hawks were strong, an upset loss to the Bulldogs was always on the cards.

In the seven seasons from 2004 to 2010 the Bulldogs won 7 of the 11 meetings between the two clubs, in each case the first (or only) match between of those seven seasons. The four times the clubs met for a second time in the season, in Round 19 2004, Round 21 2007, the 2008 Qualifying Final and Round 14 2010 the Hawks were victorious. The trend ended in 2011 when the Hawks won at both Docklands in Round 10 and the MCG in Round 23. Last season Hawthorn won the only encounter at Docklands in Round 16 by 72 points.

The two clubs only previous meeting at Aurora Stadium was in Round 10 2008 and resulted in the Bulldogs inflicted the Hawks’ first loss of the season – 15.16.106 to 12.2.74.

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In the past 20 seasons, Hawthorn has won just 4 Round 17 matches – in 1993, 2001, 2005 and last season. However, the Hawks have not actually lost in the round since 2009 having had a draw against St Kilda in 2010 and a bye in 2011 before last season’s victory against Collingwood. Given that record it is not surprising that Round 17 is the worst for Hawthorn overall. In 85 matches in Round 17, Hawthorn has won only 32 and lost 52 (with the one draw), making a deficit of 20, the biggest for any round.

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20 years ago, in Round 17 1993, Jason Dunstall kicked 9 and Paul Hudson 8 in a 92 point thrashing of Sydney at Waverley. Remarkably, Hudson’s 8 goal game did not secure him a single Brownlow vote as these went to Stephen Lawrence (3), Dunstall (2) and Gary Ayres (1). The Hawks won 24.15.159 to 9.13.67 and the margin could have been greater, expect for being outscored 5.3 to 3.2 in the final term after leading by 105 points at three quarter time.

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25 years ago in Round 17 1988 Hawthorn’s grip on Premiership favouritism strengthened after blasting 2^nd placed Melbourne with a 15.6 to 2.2 first half. The game began with Dermott Brereton sprinting into the middle, crashing the pack and giving away a free. However, a Melbourne player retaliated and the free was reversed. The ball went forward via John Platten and Jason Dunstall marked and goal.

After 9 minutes, Hawthorn led 5.0 to 0.0 and by quarter time it was 8.3 to 1.0. Hawthorn eventually won by 69 points with outstanding players including Russell Morris, John Platten, Gary Ayres and Robert Dipeirdomenico.

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40 years ago, in Round 17 1973, Hawthorn consolidated its position in the Five with a workmanlike 37 point win against Fitzroy at Glenferrie – 15.10.100 to 9.9.63. Leigh Matthews kicked 4 goals, while Alan Martello, Michael Moncrieff and Don Scott all contributed 3.

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50 years ago, in Round 17 1963, after trailing by a point at half-time, Hawthorn restricted North Melbourne to just one goal in the second half to run out comfortable 41 point winners at Arden Street. John Peck (4) and Rod Olsson (3) were the multiple goalkickers for the Hawks.

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The highest individual goal tally kicked by a Hawthorn player against the Bulldogs is 14 by Jason Dunstall in Round 19, 1996 at Waverley. Peter Hudson has kicked the most goals in Round 17, a tally of 10 recorded against St Kilda, at Waverley, in 1977.