Alastair Clarkson has joined Jack Hale in equal third place on the Hawthorn games coached list, having coached the team in 146 matches. He will move to outright third against the Bulldogs this Sunday. 

The only two men to have coached the Hawks in more games are John Kennedy (299) and Allan Jeans (221).

Hale in 1952 and Clarkson in 2005 took over teams which had finished second last on the ladder the previous season and took them to great heights.  The highlight of Hale’s career was getting the Club into the finals for the first time in 1957.  His overall record was 61 wins, 84 defeats and one draw.  Clarkson has coached the Hawks to 75 wins, 70 defeats and one draw, with the obvious highlight being the 2008 premiership.

Last Sunday’s fixture was an appropriate one for Clarkson to equal Hale’s tally, as it was against Sydney at the SCG that he made his coaching debut in Round 1 2005.  Sunday’s win was something of a ‘final frontier’ for Clarkson, as now the Hawks have won at least once under Clarkson in each of the ‘away’ interstate fixtures.



Lance Franklin’s fifth goal last Sunday was the 400th of his career.  He reached the mark in his 128th game, the third fastest of any Hawk, only exceeded by Peter Hudson who reached it in his 71st game and Jason Dunstall in his 98th game.  The other four 400-plus goal Hawks reached the career tally of 400 more slowly - Michael Moncrieff (in his 153rd game), Leigh Matthews (164th), Dermott Brereton (174th) and John Peck (184th).

The tally of seven 400-goal players means Hawthorn is the Club with the third highest number.  Essendon (10) and Collingwood (eight) are the only two clubs with more, while next on the list are Fitzroy and Richmond both with six.  Altogether in VFL-AFL history, there have been 83 individuals to reach 400 career goals.



Hawthorn goes into this week’s game one behind the Bulldogs on the head-to-head history, trailing 74-75, with two draws.  It is remarkable that the Bulldogs lead the head-to-head, when, in premierships, the Hawks lead 10-1, and are ahead 15-2 in Grand Final appearances.  It is explained by the fact while both teams struggled in their early years after joining the League, Footscray were significantly better than Hawthorn.  Then, in the 1970s and 1980s, when the Hawks were strong, an upset loss to the Bulldogs was always on the cards.

The Bulldogs have won seven of the past 11 meetings between the two clubs, in each case the first (or only) match between of the past seven seasons.  The four times the clubs met for a second time in the season, in Round 19, 2004, Round 21, 2007, the 2008 Qualifying Final and Round 14 last season the Hawks were victorious.  One can only hope that the trend ends on Sunday.



This is the first of only two games the Hawks are scheduled to play at Docklands in 2011.  To the end of 2010 Hawthorn had played exactly 50 games at the venue for 25 wins, 24 losses and the memorable draw against St Kilda last season.



In the past decade, Round 10 has been Hawthorn’s hoodoo round, with nine losses from the past eleven starts. 

None of the nine defeats have been by narrow margins, the closest being 21 points in 2006 and the heaviest 86 points in 2004. 

In 2008, Round 10 saw the Hawks finally blot their copybook, after a 9-0 start to the season, with a 32 defeat by the Bulldogs at Aurora Stadium while, in 2009, a strong third quarter fightback was not enough as Hawthorn lost to Adelaide at Football Park by 27 points. 

The sole wins were in 2007 when Hawthorn scored a comfortable 34 point win over Port Adelaide at Football Park, with Tim Boyle booting five goals and last season’s stunning 50 point win against Carlton. 

Despite the recent run of poor results, Round 10 has overall been one of the Club’s better rounds with 42 wins and 44 defeats.



50 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, the Hawks fifth and the Blues seventh.

When Carlton goaled, early in the second quarter, to draw within a goal, it appeared the game would be close.  They would not add another until the four minute mark of the final term.

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 others in the best were Winneke, Peck, Young, Kaine, P. Hay, Arthur and Youren. 

This was also a special day for Wayne Athorne who made his only Senior appearance.



In Round 10 1971, top team Hawthorn thrashed third placed Collingwood in front of 28,451 at Glenferrie - 15.17.107 to 7.13.55.  Peter Hudson's five goals meant he finished the game with a career tally of exactly 500 goals.  He had played 87 games, meaning he had got from 400 in just 16 games (see above).



Hawthorn also played Collingwood in Round 10 1991 and again scored a comfortable win - 23.13.151 to 16.12.108.  Paul Hudson was the star of the game played before 45,595 at Waverley.  In just his 16th game, he had 24 disposals and booted nine goals.



The highest individual goal tally kicked by a Hawthorn player against the Bulldogs is 14 by Jason Dunstall in Round 19, 1996 at Waverley.  The most goals by a Hawthorn player in Round 10 is a tally of nine - by Peter Knights in 1985 (see above), Paul Hudson in 1991 and Jason Dunstall in 1998, against Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon respectively.