It is 14 years since Hawthorn last won all four ‘away’ interstate games in a season, while it is 19 years since the Hawks last completed a sequence of three consecutive wins against West Coast.
So far in 2008, the Hawks three ‘away’ interstate games have produced wins over Fremantle, Brisbane Lions and Adelaide, in the process ending losing sequences of two, seven and eight games, dating back to 2005, 2000 and 1994 respectively.
Hawthorn current losing sequence against West Coast in Perth is four, with the most recent win in 1999. However, that game was at the WACA Ground, so one has to go back to 1994 to find a Subiaco win against West Coast, making it five consecutive defeats at the venue against the Eagles.
In Round 20, 1999 Hawthorn 12.12.84 won a thriller against West Coast 11.16.82, with Joel Smith and Aaron Lord each kicking 3 goals, while Shane Crawford was best-on-ground, gaining the 3 Brownlow votes, as he did in four consecutive games from Rounds 18 to 21 of 1999. By contrast, the last Subiaco win was an upset 71 point thrashing in Round 5, 1994.
In 1994, Hawthorn played all four of the non-Victorian teams in the 15-team competition and beat (eventual Premiers) West Coast in Perth by 71 points, Adelaide in Adelaide by 97 points, Sydney at the SCG by 58 points and Brisbane at the Gabba by 11 points.
The Hawks only sequence of three consecutive wins against West Coast came in 1988-89, in the two clubs third, fourth and fifth meetings, after West Coast had won the first two matches in 1987.
The Hawks defeated the Eagles by 53 points at Subiaco in 1988 and then won at Subiaco by 5 points in 1989 and a month later demolished the Eagles at Princes Park by 91 points. 1989 and 1994 are the only seasons when Hawthorn has beaten West Coast twice in the one season. Sunday provides a third opportunity.
The two 1989 games against West Coast, in Rounds 10 and 14, are the only time in the modern era when Hawthorn has had home and away games against the same opponent closer together in a season than the seven round gap between this year’s Round 14 and Round 21 meetings with West Coast.
The only time Hawthorn has met any opponent in home and away games closer together than that was in 1952, when Hawthorn played Carlton in the Round 8 ‘propaganda round’ at Euroa, and then in Round 11 at Glenferrie. The Hawks lost both games by the same margin, 37 points.
Jarryd Roughead’s sequence of scoring at least one goal in every game ended at 27 when he was starved of opportunities in Sunday’s loss to Richmond. Lance Franklin continues to maintain the third longest sequence of consecutive goal-scoring games in Hawthorn history. He has goaled in 53 straight matches in which he has played, behind only Jason Dunstall 72 and Peter Hudson 61.
Has anyone noticed that the last six weeks have produced the same Hawthorn results in 2008 as they did in 2007? There have been wins in Rounds 15, 18 and 19 and defeats in Rounds 16, 17 and 20. Given that the Hawks won in Round 21 last year and then lost in Round 22, let’s hope that the sequence continues for just one more round.
Hawthorn and West Coast have met a total of 33 times with the Hawks winning 12 and the Eagles 21. The head-to-head record got off to a poor start in 1987 when Hawthorn lost the two encounters by 12 points and one point, despite the Hawks being one of the year’s Grand Finalists and the Eagles non-finalists.
Round 21 was first contested in 1970. It has been one of the best for the club with 26 wins and only 12 defeats in the past 38 seasons. From 1982 to 1994, Hawthorn won 13 consecutive Round 21 matches. Even in recent seasons, Hawthorn has won 7 of its last 10 in the round, including wins against the Kangaroos in Launceston in 2006 and the Bulldogs at Docklands last season.
The attendance of 44,523 at the Richmond match took to 12 the number of 40,000 plus crowds that have watched the Hawks in 2008, smashing the previous record of seven.
Jason Dunstall holds the record for the most goals by a Hawthorn player against West Coast, kicking seven in both 1988 and 1989. Dunstall also shares the Club’s Round 21 record. He booted nine in 1986 and 1989, as did Peter Hudson in 1970 and 1971.
