Hawthorn has won 22 of its last 25 games against Carlton, a sequence which covers 20 seasons.
The Hawks have won their past nine MCG matches against the Blues. The first of these featured Ben Dixon’s goal after the siren in Round 17 2001 and the most recent was a 57-point win in Round 23 2015.
As well as having an excellent record in the past two decades against Carlton, Hawthorn has an outstanding eight-decade long record in games played on 22 May. From the 1940s onwards, Hawthorn has played 13 games on 22 May for 12 wins and a solitary loss.
Some of the more recent 22 May wins have been impressive triumphs on the road, such as a 53-point win against West Coast in Perth in 1988; an extraordinary 97-point massacre of the Crows in Adelaide in 1994; and a 46-point victory against the Swans at the SCG in 2011.
AIA Vitality Update: Big wraps for young Hawk
Luke Breust has now moved within five goals of eighth place on Hawthorn’s all-time goalkickers list. Breust currently has 422 goals from his 229 games, putting him just five behind current eighth place holder Dermott Brereton, who kicked 427 goals in his career in brown and gold.
When he made his debut for St Kilda last week, James Frawley joined the select group of Hawthorn Premiership players to have appeared for other VFL-AFL clubs both before and after playing in a Hawthorn Flag-winning team.
Frawley is just the fourth to do so, following in the footsteps of Michael Byrne, who played in the 1983 Premiership team after transferring from Melbourne and later played for Sydney; Stephen Gilham, who played one game for Port Adelaide prior to being a member of the 2008 Premiership team and later playing for GWS; and Jonathan Simpkin, who played for Geelong before his appearance in the 2013 Hawks’ Premiership and subsequently playing for Essendon.
Hawthorn has a positive Round 10 record with 49 wins and 46 defeats. Last season, the Hawks had a bye in Round 10, but prior to that they recorded a 31-point win in Round 10 2019 against Port Adelaide at University of Tasmania Stadium.
10 years ago, in Round 10 2011, Hawthorn defeated the Western Bulldogs by 29 points at Docklands – 13.13.91 to 9.8.62. Despite being played in the 4.40pm timeslot the game attracted a crowd of 30,747 saw a best-on-ground performance from Luke Hodge, who had 33 disposals and kicked two goals.
30 years ago, in Round 10 1991, Hawthorn had the game won by quarter-time with an 8.2 to 1.3 onslaught against reigning Premier Collingwood. A Waverley crowd of 45,595 saw the Hawks win 23.13.151 to 16.12.108, a perfomance highlighted by a virtuoso display from 20-year-old Paul Hudson, who had 24 disposals and kicked nine goals in just his 16th AFL game.
20 years earlier, in Round 10 1971, it had been Paul Hudson’s father, Peter, kicking the goals, a burst of three in the third quarter taking him to five for the match and remarkably to 500 for his career in just his fifth season. A packed Glenferrie crowd of 26,451 watched the Hawks defeat Collingwood by 52 points – 15.17.107 to 7.13.55. Leigh Matthews was best-on-ground.
60 years ago, in Round 10 1961, Hawthorn and Carlton entered a crucial match as two of the five teams on the ladder with 20 points. As the Sporting Globe commented, ‘the Hawks held control all day, playing non-stop football’ and ran out winners 12.6.78 to 6.10.46. Brendan Edwards, who ‘sizzled in the centre’, was a clear best-on-ground, while it was also a special day for Wayne Athorne who made his only Senior appearance.
70 years ago, in Round 10 1951, Hawthorn record the second one-point win of its VFL history and did so after trailing at every change. What made the result more remarkable was that the Hawks were 11th on the ladder and opponent Fitzroy was third. Furthermore, the game was played at Fitzroy’s Brunswick St Oval and this win was Hawthorn’s first away success for two seasons.
Fitzroy still led by 18 points halfway through the last term before the Hawks slammed on three quick goals to level the scores. Then a Roy Simmonds’ behind gave Hawthorn the lead and victory by a point – 11.9.75 to 10.14.74.
90 years ago, in Round 10 1931, Hawthorn achieved a new record winning margin of 72 points, thrashing North Melbourne, 14.12.96 to 3.6.24. Jack Ryan kicked five goals for Hawthorn.
Hawthorn’s great goal-kickers never managed big bags against Carlton. Peter Hudson, Leigh Matthews and Jason Dunstall all had a top score of seven goals against the Blues. The best individual tallies for Hawthorn against Carlton are nine by Peter Knights in 1985, eight by Garry Young (in a losing side) in 1959 and another eight by Jarryd Roughead in 2009.
Lance Franklin holds the Hawthorn individual goalkicking record for Round 10 with his 13 goals against North Melbourne in 2012 surpassing the previous round record of nine, held jointly by Peter Knights (1985), Paul Hudson (1991) and Jason Dunstall (1998), against Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon respectively.
