Hawthorn will play Essendon in the first game of the season for the first time since 1985.

However, it is actually the two clubs' first Round 1 clash since 1971. That sounds like a contradiction, but it is explained by the fact that in 1985, the Round 3 meeting between Hawthorn and Essendon (the teams which had contested the previous two Grand Finals) was brought forward and played the week before Round 1.

The earlier start meant the game was played in hot conditions, so hot in fact that from quarter time onwards Michael Tuck wore a sleeveless jumper for one of the rare times in his career. As with the most famous occasion he did so (the 1987 Grand Final), it was not a great day for the Hawks as they lost to the Bombers in the Waverley Park encounter by 14 points.

The last actual Round 1 game between Hawthorn and Essendon in 1971 was a much happier day for the Hawks. A Windy Hill crowd of 19,214 saw the Hawks lead at every change before winning 13.18.96 to 10.12.72. Peter Hudson kicked 5 goals, while the best players included Peter Crimmins, Kevin Heath and Charlie Grummisch.

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This Saturday, Hawthorn will be playing on 25 March for just the second time in its history. Oddly, the club’s only previous 25 March game was not a Round 1 game, but a Round 3 encounter in the Olympic year of 2000, when the season started in the first half of March for the only time in VFL-AFL history.

Having been comprehensively beaten in the opening two games of the 2000 season under new coach Peter Schwab, Hawthorn desperately needed to beat Brisbane Lions at the MCG to get their season back on track. With injuries to key players, and a deficit of 25 points half way through the third quarter, another defeat seemed imminent, but John Barker made a telling contribution with 4 goals, while Daniel Harford and Nick Holland also starred as Hawthorn rallied to defeat Brisbane - 16.14.110 to 15.13.103.

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Although he has been acting captain in the past, Jarryd Roughead will lead the Hawks out as the appointed captain for the first time against Essendon. Generally, newly appointed Hawthorn skippers have started with a win. Premiership captains to do so include David Parkin, Don Scott, Leigh Matthews, Michael Tuck and Sam Mitchell. On the other hand, a couple of the club’s greatest leaders, Graham Arthur and Luke Hodge, began with defeats in the first games after being appointed captain.

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Hawthorn will be desperate to beat Essendon on Saturday night to avoid losing three in a row for first time since the club lost six consecutive games early in the 2010 season. Round 1 this year is only the second time in the club’s history that it has begun a season coming off consecutive defeats in Finals matches. The one previous occasion was in Round 1 1978, following defeats in the 1977 Second Semi and Preliminary Finals, when Hawthorn returned to winning ways with a comfortable victory against Melbourne.

Read: Hawthorn's last 10 Round 1 matches

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Hawthorn last six away games against Essendon have been split between four played at Docklands and two at the MCG. Oddly Hawthorn won all four Docklands games, but lost the MCG games in 2010 and 2015. In that period, Hawthorn has won home MCG games versus the Bombers in 2010, 2011 and 2015.

Overall, the two clubs have played each other 159 times, with the Hawks winning 63 and losing 96. Hawthorn has won seven of the last eight encounters, the only blemish being the two point defeat at the MCG in Round 2 2015.

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20 years ago, in Round 1 1997, Hawthorn fans celebrated the club’s ongoing existence as a stand-alone entity after the failed attempt to merge the club with Melbourne at the end of the previous season. On a Saturday night at Waverley a crowd of 35,732 saw the Hawks prevail by just a goal against St Kilda – 11.11.77 to 10.11.71.

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30 years ago, in Round 1 1987, Tony Symonds became the first individual selected in a National Draft to play for Hawthorn. Symonds, from Glenelg, was taken with pick 65 (the last pick by any club) in the inaugural National Draft in late 1986 and did well to break into the reigning Premiership team for a Grand Final re-match in against Carlton at Princes Park. The Hawks cruised to a 45 point win and Symonds spent a fair amount of time on the bench, getting 4 disposals in his limited game-time. He only managed two further games.

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This year marks the 60th anniversary of Hawthorn’s first appearance in the Finals in 1957. The journey to that achievement began with a stunning win away to Carlton in Round 1. Given that the Hawks had only defeated the Blues once in 29 previous visits to Princes Park it was no surprise that Carlton were firm favourites, but the brown and gold underdogs ended up winning by 36 points – 15.12.102 to 9.12.66.

One of the stars of the day was debutant Terry Ingersoll, recruited from the unlikely source of Western Suburbs in Sydney, who kicked 5 goals, which remains the equal record for someone making a VFL-AFL debut for the Hawks (shared with Johnny Hall, Dermott Brereton and Stephen Lawrence).

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The best individual goalkicking performance by a Hawthorn player against Essendon is 12 by Jason Dunstall in 1992, followed by 11 by Leigh Matthews in 1973 and 10 by Michael Moncrieff in 1972. The record for Round 1 is also 12 by Jason Dunstall, kicked against Geelong in the opening rounds of both 1990 and 1992.

Read: A look back at the fiercest Hawks vs Bombers encounters