This Saturday will be the 150th meeting between Hawthorn and Richmond in the VFL-AFL.

Of the 149 games to date, Hawthorn has won 67 and lost 82, a deficit wholly accounted for by Hawthorn losing the first 21 games between the two clubs from 1925 to 1936.

The Hawks’ best sequence of wins against Richmond were 16 (1985-94) and 10 (1959-64).



Hawthorn is on the verge of another 150th - a win on Saturday will be the club’s 150th victory at the MCG. Going into the game, the Hawks have won 149, lost 123 and drawn one of 273 games at the venue.

Things have certainly improved since the Club’s first ever game there in Round 9 1926, in which Hawthorn kicked what remains the Club’s lowest score at any venue - managing just 1.7.13 in a 141-point defeat at the hands of Melbourne.

It was not until the 11th attempt in 1938 that Hawthorn had a win at the MCG, defeating Melbourne by 19 points.

Those 10 consecutive losses, however, remain Hawthorn's worst losing sequence at the MCG, the second worst run of MCG defeats being nine in 2004.

The Club's best winning streaks at the MCG though, are seven (1991-93), and two sets of six (1982-84 and 1986-87).



Last Saturday, Clinton Young became the 125th individual to play 100 games for Hawthorn.

Interestingly, he is the 17th member of the 2008 Premiership team to reach the milestone. Stephen Gilham (94 games) and Cyril Rioli (91 games) are likely to get there this year, while Xavier Ellis (78 games) remains a good chance to get there in subsequent seasons.

This will leave just two members of the team, Stuart Dew and Brent Renouf, who will not reach the milestone for the Hawks.



As well as playing Richmond in the first ever match at Glenferrie, Hawthorn also played the Tigers in the last ever game at Punt Road in Round 18 1964.

Hawthorn won the game, 16.19.115 to 9.18.72 in front of a crowd of 15,500. 



The only time the Hawks and Tigers have previously met on 26 May was at the MCG in 1973.  Richmond, with a 6-1 record, were firm favourites against Hawthorn (3-4), but a 5.7 to 2.6 opening term put the Hawks on track to an upset 37-point win. 

In just his sixth game, Wayne Bevan kicked five goals for the second time in a fortnight, taking his career tally to 20.

The result was part of a series of good performances by Hawthorn against Richmond, in the Tigers’ back-to-back Premiership seasons of 1973 and 1974. 

Late in 1973, the Hawks lost a Glenferrie thriller by 5-points while, in 1974, Hawthorn recorded wins by 16 points at the MCG and 23 points at Princes Park.
 


Hawthorn has won six of the last seven matches against Richmond, with the one loss coming in Round 20, 2008 as the Tigers scored an upset win by 29 points, in what proved to be the last loss of Hawthorn’s Premiership season. 

In 2009, the two clubs did not meet until Round 21, the game resulting in Hawthorn’s only win in the last six weeks of the season. 

In 2010, Hawthorn got its season back on track when a thrilling game-saving tackle from Sam Mitchell ensured the Hawks hung on for a 13.11.89 to 13.8.86 win in Round 8.

Last season the teams’ only meeting was on a Saturday night in Round 3, with Hawthorn recording a comfortable 63-point win.



20 years ago, in Round 9 1992, Hawthorn and Melbourne played a very scrappy opening quarter at Waverley in which both teams only managed 1.2.8. 

From quarter time onwards, however, the Hawks gradually got on top, leading by 14 points at half-time, 35 at the final change before running out 72-point winners - 18.12.120 to 7.6.48. 

Jason Dunstall kicked six goals, but the star of the day was Dean Anderson, whose 34 disposals earned him the three Brownlow votes.



30 years ago, in Round 9 1982, Hawthorn trailed Collingwood at Victoria Park at every change but, after slipping 28 points behind at one stage of the third quarter, stormed home with a 6.4 to 2.2 final term to win by 22 points - 17.12.114 to 13.14.92. 

The best players were Tuck, Loveridge, Buckenara, Wallace, Wade and Eade. 

Buckenara kicked four goals as The Age described him as “a wizard at taming the loose ball”, who was “at his deadliest kicking goals in the time-on periods of the second, third and last quarters”.



Hawthorn has played 87 matches in Round 9 for 40 wins and 47 defeats, including victories in the last five seasons. 

The five consecutive Round 9 wins have been against West Coast in Launceston, Melbourne (twice) at the MCG, a stunning 50-point upset win against Carlton at Docklands in 2010, while last season the Hawks beat the Swans in Sydney for the first time in eight years.



Jason Dunstall had an amazing season against Richmond in 1992, booting a club record 17 goals in Round 7 and a further bag of 12 in Round 22. 

In his whole career, Dunstall kicked 111 goals against Richmond, behind only his 116 against the Bulldogs.

Peter Hudson holds the Round 9 record, booting 10, in a 30-point victory over Fitzroy at Glenferrie, in this round in 1968.