Since that game against Richmond at the MCG, both have captained the Club, won five Peter Crimmins Medals between them and, played in a Premiership team.
In that game, Hawthorn beat Richmond by 42 points, with Nick Holland and Daniel Chick each kicking four goals, with Angelo Lekkas earning 21 disposals. Apart from Hodge and Mitchell, Chance Bateman (who was playing his 11th game) is the only other current player to have played in the game.
This round marks the 70th anniversary of one of the most momentous victories in Hawthorn's history. In Round 5 1942, Hawthorn beat Collingwood for the first-ever time, after losing the previous 29 encounters, since entering the league in 1925.
A wartime crowd of 4,000 at Glenferrie saw Hawthorn 13.10.88 defeat Collingwood 10.20.80 - Fred Jones starred with 5 goals.
Sydney will be playing an AFL game at Aurora Stadium for the first time this Sunday, becoming the 12th different opponent Hawthorn has played at the venue. It will leave five clubs which Hawthorn has not yet hosted in Launceston - Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Melbourne and GWS.
Going into their first home game at Aurora Stadium this season, Hawthorn’s record at the ground is 22 wins and 10 losses, including victories in its past seven matches.
This will be the 150th occasion Hawthorn has played South Melbourne/Sydney. In the previous 149 meetings, Hawthorn has recorded 82 wins, 65 defeats and two draws. Each club had periods of dominance, with South putting together sequences of 15 wins (1929-37) and 13 wins (1944-51), while the Hawks’ best stretch was 13 from 1971 to 1977, followed by 11 from 1981 to 1986.
In the mid 2000s, the Swans won six in a row, before Hawthorn stopped the run at the MCG in 2008. In 2009 and 2010 the victories were shared, but last season Hawthorn scored a meritorious 46-point win at the SCG in Round 9 and backed it up with a 36-point Semi Final triumph.
This Sunday will be Brad Sewell’s 150th game, becoming the 56th Hawthorn player to reach the milestone. After making his debut in Round 3 2004, Sewell played in losing teams in his first 14 games, before a victory was finally achieved in Round 17 2005. His first goal didn't come until his 40th AFL match, in Round 22 2006. He has prospered since then, winning the best and fairest and being a key member of the 2008 Premiership team.
The aggregate score of 97 last Saturday night was the lowest in a game involving Hawthorn since Round 21 2006. On that occasion, the aggregate was 96 when the Hawks 7.16.58 defeated the Kangaroos 4.12.36 in Launceston.
The game that produced Hawthorn’s lowest ever aggregate score (74) was played at a very wet Waverley Park in Round 3 1995, with the Hawks 5.4.34 losing to Richmond 4.16.40. Prior to that, the record low was 75, from a 1956 match between Hawthorn 6.12.48 and St Kilda 3.9.27.
Hawthorn’s score of 5.16.46 last Saturday night was its lowest since kicking 6.9.45 against the Bulldogs at Docklands in Round 14 2009.
Hawthorn has lost three of its past five games by under a goal (including last year's preliminary final). Losing three out of five by under a goal has only happened once previously in Hawthorn history, in Rounds 1, 3 and 5 of 1931. 1931 was clearly Hawthorn’s worst season for narrow losses, with three more following in Rounds 12, 15 and 18. Overall, Hawthorn has won 100 games by six points or less, and lost 105.
30 years ago, in Round 5 1982, Hawthorn recorded an upset win against Richmond, 13.22.100 to 10.22.82. Under the heading “Hawthorn silences the doubters,” The Age described Hawthorn as playing “the ferocious and relentless style of football which gained it success and notoriety in the 1970s”.
Leigh Matthews and Michael Tuck were at their best, but it was young players such as Colin Robertson (who blanketed Kevin Bartlett) and Chris Mew (who beat David Cloke and Jim Jess) that gave Hawthorn fans much optimism for the future.
Hawthorn has played 86 games in Round 5 for 37 wins and 49 losses (having a bye in 1993). In the Clarkson era, Round 5 games have all been reasonably close, with wins by one point (Essendon 2006), 12 (Brisbane Lions 2008) and 18 (West Coast 2009), while losses have been by 19 (Kangaroos 2005), 17 (Bulldogs 2007), 12 (North Melbourne 2010) and 19 (Geelong 2011).
Bradley Hill became the third player to debut for the Hawks, from WAFL club West Perth joining Max Bailey (2006) and Wayde Skipper (2010). Prior to that, the only ex-Falcon to move to Hawthorn was Brian Falconer who debuted in 1956.
In this Anzac Day round, we should remember the eight Hawthorn players who lost their lives in World War Two - Jack Drake, Alf Giblett, Alex Nash, Richard Pirrie, Jack Price, Len Thomas, Max Wheeler and Gus Young.
Round 5 produced what was then the highest, and remains the second highest, individual goal tally in Hawthorn history, when Peter Hudson kicked 16 against Melbourne at Glenferrie in 1969.
Hudson also holds the individual goals record for Hawthorn against the Swans, twice kicking 13. He booted 13 goals against South Melbourne in consecutive matches in Round 11, 1969 and Round 8, 1970. Both matches were at Glenferrie and on both occasions he kicked the very accurate 13.2.
