The coming week marks the 20th anniversary of one of the most dramatic games in Hawthorn history.

In the final home and away game of the 1996 season Hawthorn played Melbourne at the MCG hoping to secure a spot in the Finals. However, there was also the possibility that it could be the club’s last ever game as the concluding weeks of the 1996 season were played out under the imminent threat of merger with Melbourne. A massive crowd of 63,196 turned up, the largest ever for a Hawthorn home and away game at the MCG to that time, many coming straight from an anti-merger rally at Glenferrie.

The game had everything. Jason Dunstall kicked 10, including six in the second quarter, and then his 100th for the season at the 13 minute mark of the final term. Melbourne got what proved to be the final two goals of the game, with five minutes still to play, but the desperate Hawks were able to cling to their one point lead by forcing an endless succession of ball-ups and boundary throw-ins. Chris Langford famously held his brown and gold jumper aloft as he was leaving the ground.

The following day North Melbourne did the right thing and beat Richmond, thus ensuring that the Hawks finished 8th and Richmond 9th. So Hawthorn, written off by the critics after finishing 15th in 1995 (and by even their most enthusiastic supporters after just two wins and a draw in the* first nine rounds of 1996) had snatched a most unlikely Finals berth. Never had on-field success come at a more crucial time for the club. Never have Hawthorn fans celebrated a win as passionately as they did in the emotion charged atmosphere at the MCG on the night of Saturday, 31 August, 1996.

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If the 2016 Hawks retain their current ladder position after Round 23, it will be just the second time in club history that Hawthorn has finished fourth at the end of a home and away season. The one previous occasion was 1993, a year when, under the second version of the Final Six, the Hawks then got to play an Elimination Final against fifth-placed Adelaide. In contrast, Hawthorn has finished third on the ladder at the end of the home and away season five times and fifth seven times.

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This Sunday Hawthorn has the chance to extend its record breaking sequence against Collingwood. The Hawks have won their last eight against the Magpies with the most recent win coming in Round 14 last season. The most recent loss was the 2011 Preliminary Final. The Hawks previous record of six consecutive wins was recorded on three separate occasions (1982-84, 1985-88 and 1989-92). In fact, in the period between 1982 and 1992, Hawthorn won 18 of a possible 20 against Collingwood, with the only losses coming by 11 points in 1985 and 10 points in 1989. The overall head-to-head between the two clubs has Hawthorn trailing 64 to 96.

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This will be just the fourth occasion that Hawthorn has played Collingwood in the final round of the home and away season. Two of the previous three encounters have taken place in recent seasons – 2010 and 2014. In the most recent final round meeting, Hawthorn easily accounted for the Magpies by 65 points in Round 23 2014.

Four years earlier, in Round 22 2010, Hawthorn won a thriller by three points – 15.8.98 to 13.17. 95 - in front of an MCG crowd of 76,218. Collingwood held a narrow advantage in a low-scoring first half, and maintained it as goals flowed more freely after half-time. Victory looked beyond Hawthorn when Dane Swan put Collingwood 19 points ahead at the 16 minute mark of the last quarter. However, four goals in quick succession to Jarryd Roughead, Rhan Hooper, Clinton Young and Cyril Rioli gave Hawthorn a five point lead at the 24 minute mark. The quarter ended up going beyond 35 minutes, but neither team managed another goal. Sam Mitchell had 30 disposals, followed by Jordan Lewis and Rioli each with 27, while Lance Franklin kicked six goals.

Prior to 2010, the previous final round encounter between the clubs was in the wartime 1942 season, when the last round was Round 16. The two teams went into the Victoria Park clash in the bottom two positions on the ladder, having won one game each. Despite a disastrous second quarter, when outscored 9.10 to 0.2, the Mayblooms fought back to within eight points half way through the final term. The catalyst for the fightback was a half time move by coach Roy Cazaly which saw George Bennett shifted from full-back to centre half forward. Bennett, who until then had kicked one goal for the season, booted five goals in the second half.

This game was also notable for being the only game of Alex Nash. Nash has the tragic claim to fame of being the Hawthorn player to have died younger than any other, being just 21 years and 78 days old when the Beaufort bomber in which he was flying was shot down off Bourgainville on 28 March 1944.

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Hawthorn takes an unbeaten Round 23 record into the coming weekend. There has only been a Round 23 in eight previous AFL seasons - 1991, 1992, 1994, and from 2011 onwards. Hawthorn had the bye in 1992 and recorded good wins in the other seven years. This will be just the fifth occasion when it is the final round of the home and away season.

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Jason Dunstall holds the Hawthorn record for most goals in a game versus Collingwood, having booted 11 in both 1989 and 1990. Next best was Michael Moncrieff’s 10 in 1976. Dunstall also holds the Round 23 record with a tally of six, which included his 1000th career goal, against Brisbane at the Gabba in 1994.