This Friday night Hawthorn will contest its 13th Preliminary Final.
Of the 12 previous games, 8 were under the Final Four/Fives systems when there was Preliminary Final per season, and 4 since the Final Eight meant two Preliminary Finals per season.
The 12 games have produced 6 wins and 6 defeats. However, on the 7 previous occasions when, like this year, the Hawks were the higher placed team heading into the game, the club has won 6 (1963, 1985, 1986, 1987, 2008 and 2012) and lost only once (1977).
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The date and timeslot present different omens for Hawthorn going into this week’s game. The Hawks have twice previously played on 20 September, with Preliminary Finals in 1986 and 2008 producing wins against Fitzroy and St Kilda by 56 and 54 points respectively. The only previous occasion when Hawthorn has played a Preliminary on a Friday night was two years ago when the club suffered a 3 point loss to Collingwood, the other 11 all being on Saturdays (9 in the day, one twilight and one at night).
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There are now only two players – Sam Mitchell and Brad Sewell – who have played in all 13 Finals under Alastair Clarkson’s coaching. There are a number of others who have missed just one Final, including Grant Birchall (2010 Elimination Final), Jordan Lewis (2012 Qualifying Final), Luke Hodge (2012 Preliminary Final) and Lance Franklin (2013 Qualifying Final).
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There is now only one Hawk who has played in all the 11 consecutive losses to Geelong – Cyril Rioli. Grant Birchall and Brent Guerra had played in all of them until they missed the Round 15 clash this season, while others who have played in 10 of the 11 are Lance Franklin, Sam Mitchell, Jarryd Roughead, Jordan Lewis and Brad Sewell.
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Overall, the Hawks and Cats have played 152 times, with Hawthorn winning 67, Geelong 84 and one draw. Both club’s longest winning run against the other is 11, with the Hawks establishing their best sequence from 1985 to 1990, while Geelong’s is still current.
Hawthorn and Geelong have clashed in 7 previous Finals with the results 4-3 in the Hawks favour. The Hawks won matches in 1989, 1991, 2000 and 2008, with the Cats winning twice in 1963 and in 2011.
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The only time Hawthorn has secured a place in the Grand Final by beating Geelong was in the 1991 Second Semi Final.
Under the new Final Six, the Hawks had travelled to Perth and beaten the Eagles the previous Sunday and now had to front up to Geelong just six days later. A crowd of 63,733 at Waverley saw the Hawks bombard the goals at the main scoreboard end in the opening quarter. However, a return of 3.11 meant the quarter time lead was only 16 points with Geelong on 2.1. In similar manner to the 1989 Grand Final, Geelong was extremely physical early, with Billy Brownless getting reported and, in a separate incident Tony Hall, who had kicked the first 2 goals, was forced from the ground with concussion. After an even second term, the Cats surged in the third quarter getting almost 2 goals ahead, before Hawthorn rallied to leave the margin one point in Geelong’s favour at three quarter time.
The last quarter was a see-sawing affair. It was Darren Jarman who proved to be the match-winner when late in the game he threaded through a goal from deep in the right forward pocket to regain the lead, before laying a crucial match-saving tackle on the outer wing. The other crucial factor in the final term was that Geelong replicated Hawthorn’s first quarter inaccuracy, kicking 2.7 (both their goals being scored by Mark Neeld). In the end, it was the Hawks by 2 points – 13.17.95 to 13.15.93 – winning their way into their 8th Grand Final in 9 seasons.
With Dermott Brereton out injured and Hall forced from the field, Hawthorn’s forward line struggled for lengthy periods of the game, with coach Alan Joyce dragging Paul Hudson after a poor kick in the third quarter. Jason Dunstall managed 3 goals. The best for the Hawks were the midfielders John Platten (24 disposals), Anthony Condon (22), Andrew Gowers (24) and Ben Allan (23), and the key defenders Chris Langford and Chris Mew.
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Jarryd Roughead’s 2 goals in the Qualifying Final took his career tally in Finals to 20 and 9th place on the all-time Hawthorn Finals list, moving past Alan Martello (18). If he goals in the Preliminary Final he will join Peter Hudson and Robert Dipierdomenico who share 7th place with 21 goals.
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Three Hawthorn players have kicked 8 goals in a Final – Michael Moncrieff in 1978, Dermott Brereton in 1985 and Lance Franklin in 2008. The most in a Preliminary Final is 5 recorded by Jason Dunstall (v Fitzroy 1986), Gary Buckenara (v Melbourne 1987) and Mark Williams (v St Kilda 2008). Jason Dunstall holds the individual goal-kicking record against Geelong kicking 12 goals in Round 1 of both 1990 and 1992.
