When Paul Puopolo plays his 100th game this Sunday, the number 28 will lose its status as the lowest Hawthorn number not to have produced a centurion.
Prior to Puopolo, the record holder for most games wearing number 28 was held by Chris Langford, who wore the number in 78 games from 1983 to 1986, before shifting to number 24 for the remainder of his illustrious career.
The distinction of being the lowest Hawthorn number without a centurion will now pass to number 36, whose record holder is Brian Falconer who played 57 games from 1956 to 1960.
The only higher numbers to have been worn a hundred or more times by a Hawthorn player are 37 (Angelo Lekkas), 39 (Robert Campbell) and 44 (John Platten).
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Matt Spangher’s first appearance in the Hawthorn team last Friday night means that all 22 members of last season’s premiership team have played for the club this season.
This has actually been more the exception than the rule in Hawthorn history, having only previously happened in the seasons after the 1971, 1983 and 1989 premierships.
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It was mentioned in the media that the tragic death of Phil Walsh was the first of a serving VFL-AFL coach.
Hawthorn’s history does provide something of a precedent.
Way back in 1933, Hawthorn appointed St Kilda star, 27 year old Fred ‘Flops’ Phillips as the coach for the coming season.
Just a week before the season was due to commence, a boil on Phillip’s elbow became infected by dye from his new Hawthorn jumper, and he suddenly died.
Arthur Rademacher took over as Hawthorn coach for the first four games of 1933, beginning with a Round 1 win, but losing the next three, after which Bill Twomey became the new official coach.
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Supporters may have noticed that despite winning by just 10 points, Hawthorn won every quarter of last Friday night’s game (by three, one, five and one).
This is actually the equal second lowest winning margin when winning all four quarters in VFL-AFL history.
Hawthorn now shares second place with Carlton who also beat Collingwood by 10 points in 1969.
The record is a remarkably low figure of seven points, which is what Melbourne beat Fitzroy by in 1973 when winning the quarters by one, one, two and three [Thanks to Michael Rogers’ Rogers Results website for this information].
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Hawthorn has a perfect record against Fremantle at Aurora Stadium, winning seven out of seven.
The two teams most recent meeting at the venue was in Round 4 2013, with the Hawks recording a comfortable 42-point win 18.10 (118) to 11.10 (76).
The game was notable for Grant Birchall accumulating a career-high 37 disposals.
Fremantle has only even beaten Hawthorn twice outside Western Australia, at Waverley Park in 1997 and Docklands in 2001.
In both games, the Hawks led by significant margins at every change (even by the same 29 point half time margin in both games) and got overrun late.
Before last season’s Round 21 loss at Subiaco, the Hawks had won their previous six against Fremantle, equalling the record winning sequence of six, recorded from 1998 to 2001.
Overall, the Hawks hold a commanding 22 to eight advantage in the head-to-head between the two clubs.
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This round actually marks the 20th anniversary of first ever game between Hawthorn and Fremantle.
In Round 15 1995, the two clubs met at Waverley Park, with the Hawks in 10th position with a 6-8 record and the Dockers 12th with a 5-9 record.
In a very similar score to the 2013 result mentioned above, Hawthorn won 18.10 (118) to 11.8 (74)
Paul Hudson and Simon Minton-Connell both kicked four goals, while Darren Jarman deservedly got the three Brownlow votes for a 39 disposal and nine tackle game.
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Round 15 has historically been one of Hawthorn’s best rounds, with 47 wins, 2 draws and 41 defeats.
In the 27 seasons from 1970 to 1996, Hawthorn’s Round 15 return was remarkably good with 24 wins and only three losses.
In the past decade, results have been evenly split 5-5, the most recent win coming last season against Gold Coast at Aurora Stadium.
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Forty years ago, in Round 15 1975, Hawthorn beat reigning premiers Richmond for the second time in the season.
And it was a most comprehensive win with the ladder-leading Hawks beating the third-placed Tigers 14.10 (94) to 2.20 (32).
John Hendrie starred with 26 kicks, 11 marks and three goals.
Given Richmond’s score it was probably not surprising that, apart from Hendrie, defenders dominated the best players list with Kelvin Moore, Peter Knights, Bohdan Jaworsskyj and Ian Bremner all included, along with Leigh Matthews and Geoff Ablett.
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The best individual return for a Hawthorn player in Round 15 is also 12 goals, recorded by Peter Hudson in a 23-point Hawthorn win against St Kilda at Glenferrie in 1971.
The most goals by a Hawthorn player against Fremantle is the tally of eight by Mark Williams in Round 1 2006, at Aurora Stadium.
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