This Sunday, Ben McEvoy will join a select group to reach the milestone of 150 Hawthorn games while captain of the club.
Prior to McEvoy, the previous six individuals to play their 150th while captain were Sam Mitchell (in 2009), Shane Crawford (2000), Peter Crimmins (1974), David Parkin (1971), Graham Arthur (1963) and John Kennedy (1958). The results in these milestones were four wins and two defeats.
Several Hawthorn captains of the modern era had already reached 150 games before being appointed captain, a list which includes Don Scott, Leigh Matthews, Michael Tuck, Gary Ayres, Chris Langford, Jason Dunstall, Luke Hodge, Jarryd Roughead and Ben Stratton.
Richie Vandenberg is the only captain of the modern era not to play 150 games, falling just short on 145 games.
Of course, McEvoy also played 91 games for St Kilda from 2008 to 2013. His appointment as captain this season made him the first Hawthorn captain to have previously played for another club since Keith Shea 76 years ago. Shea came to Hawthorn from Carlton in 1945 as captain-coach, playing eight games that season before retiring as a player and continuing as non-playing coach in 1946.
Hawthorn captains leaving the club to play somewhere else also had a long period without happening. In 1950, captain for the previous three seasons, Alec Albiston, moved to North Melbourne. There was not another instance until 2017, when Sam Mitchell moved to West Coast, followed the next season by Luke Hodge’s move to Brisbane Lions.
Three VFLW Hawks taken in AFLW draft
This round marks the 40th anniversary of Don Scott becoming the first Hawk to play 300 games. Scott was no longer captain in 1981 having handed the baton to Leigh Matthews under new coach Allan Jeans.
The Hawks had fallen away after a promising 8-3 record at the half-way of the 1981 season, winning just two of their previous eight games as they entered a Round 20 encounter with St Kilda at Waverley. After a slow start, Hawthorn did manage a win for Scott’s milestone beating St Kilda 10.17.77 to 9.14.68.
Scott played well with 21 hit outs and 23 disposals, but the star was Matthews who had 35 disposals and kicked a goal.
The move of this weekend’s game to University of Tasmania Stadium will continue its role as the predominant venue for recent games between Hawthorn and Brisbane Lions.
10 of the last 15 games between the two clubs have been played in Launceston, with only three at the Gabba and just two matches (in 2012 and 2020) at the MCG. The Hawks have won seven and lost three of the Launceston games, with two of the defeats in the most recent games there in 2018 and 2019.
Overall, Hawthorn and Brisbane have played 51 times, with the Hawks winning 30 and losing 21. Hawthorn won eight consecutive games against the Lions from 2010 to 2017, but then lost four games in 2018-19. The Hawks then achieved a win at the MCG in Round 1 last season, in the first game played without a crowd due to the pandemic.
Remarkably only 10 of the team from Round 1 2020 were in the team last Saturday night. Of the missing 12, five have retired, two are now at other AFL clubs and five are still on the list but did not play, due to injury or non-selection.
Hawthorn has played 53 matches in Round 20, winning 30 and losing 23. The Hawks won in Round 20 for six consecutive seasons from 2010 to 2015, before suffering defeats by Melbourne (2016) and Richmond (2017), bounced back with a win against Essendon in 2018 but lost to North Melbourne in 2019. There was no Round 20 last season.
The first Round 20 was played in 1945 to provide extra games to compensate for those lost during the war. It has been a permanent part of the fixture since 1968 (apart from 2020). In 1945, 1968 and 1969 it was the final round of the home and away season.
10 years ago, in Round 20 2011, Hawthorn recorded a 17-point win against North Melbourne in Launceston after a final quarter with some stunning fluctuations.
The Hawks led by a point at the final change, but two goals to Lance Franklin and one to Brad Sewell had the margin out to 21 points by the 13-minute mark of the term. The game then turned on its head as North’s Matt Campbell kicked four goals in a 12-minute burst that gave his team a two-point lead.
Fortunately, momentum then swung back the Hawks’ way as a goal to Shaun Burgoyne (who else!) regained the lead and then further majors to Franklin and Isaac Smith clinched a 15.13.103 to 13.8.86 victory. Sam Mitchell and Luke Hodge were both outstanding for the Hawks.
30 years ago, in Round 20 1991, results saw the 1991 Hawks open-up their chances of securing second position, a crucial advantage under the first version of the McIntyre Final Six. Hawthorn ground out a 14-point win against 10th placed Footscray at Waverley Park.
Meanwhile, over at Princes Park, 11th placed Carlton scored a two-point win over second placed Geelong. This enabled the Hawks to draw level with Geelong on the ladder, only behind on percentage.
A noteworthy feature of the win against the Bulldogs is that, for the second time in four rounds, the 38-year-old Michael Tuck secured the three Brownlow votes.
The Round 20 Hawthorn individual goals record is held by Jason Dunstall, who kicked 12 goals against Essendon in 1992. Other 10 goal-plus Round 20 hauls were Dunstall’s 11 versus Collingwood in 1990 and Michael Moncrieff’s 10 against Essendon in 1972.
Dunstall also holds the club individual goal-kicking record against Brisbane, with 11 goals in the first ever match between the two clubs at Carrara in 1987.
