The crowd
All forecasts suggested a bumper crowd was in store to watch this blockbuster clash, and they were not wrong. 78,294 spectators watched on as the two bitter rivals went head-to-head. Not only did this help draw the biggest total crowd of any single round in AFL/VFL history, but it also marked the biggest ever crowd between these two sides in a home and away match.
The newbies
Four players pulled on the brown and gold jumper for the first time on Saturday night.
Tom Mitchell led the way for the debuting group, as he racked up 37 disposals (16 of which were contested), nine marks, four clearances and four tackles.
Fellow midfielder Jaeger O’Meara had a more subtle impact but still managed to collect 23 touches and lead the Hawks in clearance numbers.
Former Tiger Ty Vickery showed in patches how valuable he will be to the Hawks line-up, but he would be ruing two chances at goal he had in the all-important third quarter.
Ricky Henderson also put in a solid performance, finishing with 21 possessions.
The comeback
Captain Jarryd Roughead made a successful return to the field after his one-year absence. Roughead kicked his first goal early in the second half and was instantly swamped by teammates as the crowd erupted in what is guaranteed to be one of the most emotional moments of the season. The skipper would add one more major before his night was out to finish with 12 touches, four marks, six tackles and two goals.
The stats
A quick look at the scoreboard would show that, despite the final 25-point margin, the Hawks had the same amount of scoring shots as the Bombers (31). This is emblematic of the game as none of the significant statistical areas were controlled by either side (Essendon +2 contested possession, Hawthorn +2 clearances and Hawthorn +3 inside 50s).
However, Essendon were noticeably efficient when converting their forward 50 entries into goals, an area that they also dominated throughout the JLT pre-season series. Essendon could goal on over 31% of their inside 50s, while the Hawks went at a less impressive 20% clip.
Read: Five talking points - Round 1
The next game
Hawthorn host the Adelaide Crows at the MCG next Saturday afternoon. The Hawks have won their past seven games against the Crows, who looked in wonderful touch in their convincing win over the Giants on Sunday.
In a comforting statistic for Hawks fans, their team has not lost both of the opening two rounds of the season since 2009.
Furthermore, in the seven seasons since then, the Hawks have started with one win and one loss in their first two games of the year in all but one year.
