THEY don't just hand the No. 23 jumper at Hawthorn to anyone these days.

You have to be tough. You have to be brave. You have to inspire. You have to be capable of the freakish and be able to win games, sometimes off your own boot if that is what it takes.

And the Hawks have mainly got it right. More than 20 players have worn No. 23 since the club joined the League in 1925 and several have given excellent service.

Four of them have been superstars—not just of their club —but also of the game. And the No. 23 jumper is the only number at Hawthorn to appear in all 10 of the club's premierships.

John Peck. Don Scott. Dermott Brereton. Lance Franklin.

They represent greatness and explain some of the reasons Hawthorn fans have come to love their club. They are the ultimate first four for any Hawthorn fan in any race in any season.

Can any other AFL club boast a better collection of footballers to have worn the same number for the bulk of their career?

The first notable No. 23 at Hawthorn was ruckman/defender Ted Fletcher, who played 129 games from 1948-54. He captained the club in 1953-54 although—as was customary at the time—he wore No. 1 once elevated to the top job. But as the Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers notes, Fletcher was a "vigorous protector" of his club's smaller players.

If nothing else, Fletcher created the DNA for future players in the No. 23 and, by 1954, Peck, an apprentice butcher from Canterbury, was wearing the jumper. When he played his first game for the club against Essendon at Glenferrie Oval in the first game of that year, he became [and still is] the youngest player to debut for the Hawks.

Peck went on to become Hawthorn's first matinee idol. He was tough, rough, unsophisticated in play, but dramatic in action. Brave as they come, he was the epitome of the mould John Kennedy created in the early 1960s as the Hawks finally came in from the cold.

Peck was known by several nicknames: 'Speed' (because of his occasional bursts of pace), 'Gregory' (because of the Hollywood star of the same name and an ability to milk key free kicks at important times) and 'Elvis' because he boasted the same slicked back hair and high cheekbones of the rock'n'roll heart-throb of the time.

Primarily a full-forward, Peck could miss goals from
dead in front (as he did in the 1961 Grand Final), and land 'torps' from the railway side of Glenferrie Oval.

In 1960, he kicked the most significant goal in Hawthorn's history up to that time, after the siren against Collingwood to give the Hawks their first win at Victoria Park.

In 1961, he kicked four goals in the second semi-final win over Melbourne and, from 1963-65, won consecutive John Coleman medals, the first player to do so since the award was introduced after Coleman's retirement. Only Gary Ablett snr has done the same since.

Peck moved on from Hawthorn at the end of 1966. With the recruitment of Peter Hudson, he had seen the writing on the wall. But young ruckman Don Scott was a worthy heir apparent.

Scott was a model in different ways—a classic example of a young man who gave everything he could for himself, his coach, and his football club. He was unrelenting in his attack on the ball, and unrelenting in his expectations of himself and his teammates.

He was brilliant in the brutal 1971 Grand Final win over
St Kilda and it was his stirring and defiant three-quarter time address to teammates that helped plant the seed for the brilliant final-quarter comeback.

He backed that up with fine performances as captain in the 1976 and 1978 Grand Finals, both Hawthorn victories over North Melbourne.

Scott was painted as unorthodox because of his flamboyant fashion sense and the unpardonable crime (at least in the macho world of football's chattering classes) of sporting a handbag.

But he was a great on-field leader, not so engaging off the field. He took that approach in 1996, emerging from the wilderness and refusing to yield to pressure to fold Hawthorn into Melbourne. His endeavours saved the club and he took a seat on the board.

Sadly, in typical Scott fashion, he remains estranged from the club and won't allow himself to enjoy the club's return to off-field health and on-field success.

A little more than 12 months after Scott's retirement (end of 1981), the No. 23 belonged—most appropriately—to the precocious Dermott Brereton.

Brereton came into the spotlight as a teenager, a red-headed, goalkicking centre half-forward who, as his charismatic off-field persona emerged, became larger than life. He was one of those players who 'owned' the toughest position in the game; heaven help anybody who attempted to take it away from him.

He was shortish for the position (189cm), but the total package of bravery, ability to gut-run, his fierce attack on the footy, and an ahead-of-his-time capacity to grab the ball when it hit the ground, put him at the front of his peers in an era of great half-forwards.

He will always be remembered for his extraordinary effort to stay on the ground after being knocked down and injured at the opening bounce of the 1989 Grand Final. Vomiting blood and bile, he had the audacity to mark minutes later in front of the pack and convert.

The goal enlivened his teammates and the crowd, and served to further build the antipathy some Geelong players had towards him.

With his body just about shot, Brereton finished with
the Hawks at the end of 1993 and the No. 23 was handed
to several players, Michael Collica and Nathan Thompson among them.

When Thompson left the club in 2005, the jumper was put away for 12 months and the challenge thrown to the incoming batch of draftees, the first to be selected by coach Alastair Clarkson, to put their hand up to wear it.

It became obvious quite soon that the coltish but freakishly talented Lance 'Buddy' Franklin was the candidate most likely.

The Hawks switched Franklin from No. 38 to No. 23 in his second season, and he has since become one of the best five players in football.

He kicked nine goals against hated rival Essendon in 2007, booted the match-winning goal against Adelaide in the elimination final the same year, and kicked 102 goals to win the Coleman Medal (and played in a premiership team) the following year.

In 2010, he kicked two of the best goals of the season, in almost identical fashion, within minutes of each other on a cold night at the MCG. (One was later named goal of the year.) That they came, once again, against Essendon, only added to the joy they brought Hawthorn supporters.

A showman like Peck, with an edge like Scott and the flamboyance and match-winning ability of Brereton, the Hawks chose their current No. 23 well.

As Channel Ten commentator Tim Lane noted after Franklin sunk the Crows in 2007, in comparing him to Peck, Scott and Brereton, he might be the best of the lot.

WHAT SOME HAWTHORN FANS SAY

GEOFF SLATTERY
Managing editor, AFL Record
I'd heard about 'Buddy' before he was revealed in the round one thrashing by the Sydney Swans at the SCG in 2005. At the time, Shane Crawford was writing his life story and was a regular visitor to the office. I asked him about this big fella from the west.

He said he was "frightened" at how good he had been in pre-season activities. Crawford's words have resonated through the years, and will continue to do so.

Franklin can do what none before him could—whether the 23s of the Hawks, or any other forward in any other era. He is the ultimate excitement machine—if only he could kick straight—at least the easy ones.

We should never forget that in 2008, the year he became the first indigenous centurion, he also kicked 88 behinds. In an era when forwards don't kick bags, he had 201 shots at goal. And we loved them all.

» Rankings Franklin 1, Brereton 2, Scott 3, Peck 4.


STEPHEN QUARTERMAIN
Network Ten/One HD presenter and commentator
I never saw John Peck kick a footy. I do know he could seriously play and was tough. Whack him at your peril! I share a little bond with Don Scott, helping Hawthorn avoid the merger. He's a different cat, was scary mad on the field and a great warrior.

I have enjoyed a lot of laughs with Mr Brereton. One of the toughest I have ever seen, on and off the field. He got bored during the season. Finals were his go.

'Buddy', meanwhile, is unique. The most exciting of all the 23s. If he wins a couple more premierships he might just give 'Derm' a run for his money. Maybe.

» Rankings Brereton 1, Franklin 2, Scott 3, Peck 4.

DAVID PARKIN
Hawthorn premiership captain and coach
In my 50-year association with Hawthorn, these No. 23s have been incredibly significant players in creating the rich history of the club.

Other than Bernie Quinlan, John Peck was the best forward/ruckman I have ever seen. Don Scott was a great athlete, leader (on and off the field), competitor and footballer. A unique person who contributed directly to three premierships.

An unbelievable mixture of skill and physicality made Dermott Brereton one of the best centre half-forwards of all time. He played in five flags and was a genuinely feared opponent.

Potentially, 'Buddy' Franklin has the latent talent and athleticism to be the best of them all. But to this point, it is far from being realised consistently.

» Rankings Brereton 1, Scott 2, Peck 3, Franklin 4.

MARK O'CONNOR
Founder, Hawk Headquarters message board
John Peck kicked a goal after the siren to give us our first win at Victoria Park. Dermott Brereton carried broken ribs into a must-win game in 1990 and came away with 11 goals and just as many bruises. Lance Franklin kicked a goal from the boundaryline to win us a final.

These men might have saved a game and, in some cases, a season. But only Don Scott could claim he saved the club.
Hawthorn was on its knees in 1996, set to disappear from our lives forever.

Only when Scott stepped in to be the face, heart and spirit of the anti-merger campaign did our once-proud club finally begin to believe it could stand alone and be strong again.

Scott had the commitment, courage, selflessness and competitive drive that personified our motto: "Let us be known by our actions."

Peck was a champion, Brereton a legend, Franklin a superstar. Don Scott is Hawthorn.

» Rankings SCOTT 1, BRERETON 2, FRANKLIN 3, PECK 4.

ROSS STEVENSON
3AW breakfast presenter
John Peck the full-forward/butcher and had that Elvis hair; he won us our first game at Victoria Park though I wasn't actually there.

Don Scott had a man-bag and was a more fashion in football urger; he (and Ian Dicker) spoke as one and saved us from
the merger.

Dermott was a player; he didn't need a job; though at three-quarter time that Waverley day he worked the Bomber mob.

All four champs found themselves a lot before the judiciary; though why Buddy ever did is a complete and
utter 'myshtery'.

Now Lance is our 100-goal-a-year unique one, he moves in curious ways to kick it; but our best 23 of all? Well, photo. Can't pick it.

PETER DI SISTO
Editor, AFL Record
Others are far better placed to assess which of the four was or is the best player, so my views are based strictly on peripheral fashion and style matters.

Franklin's 'sleeve' tattoo on his left arm gives his otherwise standard look (cropped hair and flashy white boots) an edge. And having his own T-shirt label buys him an extra point. 6/10

Peck was known as football's Elvis when the king of rock was making females weak at the knees (and before Presley's expanding gut made his own knees weak), the star forward's pompadour haircut an outstanding feature. 7/10

Scott was—and remains—complex; he ran a jeans store, wore kaftans, once donned what looked like mittens in a night game, and when he was especially motivated, would slick his long hair back before running on to the ground with a crazed look in his eyes. Today, he trains horses and rides them in equestrian events, sports a chrome dome and wears multi-coloured ties to black-tie events. 8/10

Brereton liked to mix it up. He surfed, rode a Harley and drove a Ferarri, dyed his red hair blond and wore it big, sported green boots that looked like slippers, was a fixture in the nightclub scene, guest-starred in a television soap, kissed an opponent, fashioned a peacock-style celebratory dance as a nod to a professional wrestler, and even sung Frank Sinatra tunes on morning television. 9/10        

KEVAN CARROLL
Contributor, AFL Record
There were good 23s at Hawthorn before John Peck and there have been good and great 23s after him. But Peck put the Hawthorn No. 23 on the map.

He arrived at Glenferrie as a tall, strong, tough, fast and wonderfully talented teenager and is still the club's youngest debutant (16 years and 255 days).

Graham Arthur believes Peck could have won a Brownlow were it not for the asthma that prevented him from having anything but short spells on the ball; and he was an outstanding ruckman whose technique, according to then chairman of selectors Jack McLeod, was similar to that of Bill Morris, the Richmond Brownlow medallist.

Peck spent most of his career at full-forward, and one of his nicknames, 'Elvis', indicated his cult-figure status to a generation of Hawthorn supporters.

» Rankings
1. To go into the trenches with: PECK
2. To win or turn a big game: BRERETON
3. To put on a magic show: FRANKLIN
4. To inspire the team: SCOTT 

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs

This story first appeared in the AFL Record