The last time the Hawks and Cats met in Round 4 was ten years ago in 2007. At that time, Hawthorn had not won a Flag for 16 years and Geelong had not saluted for 44 years. Remarkably, since then, between them the two clubs have won seven of the ten premierships on offer.
As so many Hawthorn-Geelong games have been in the past decade, the Round 4 2007 Launceston clash was a thriller. Hawthorn trailed at every change, but finished strongly to win by four points – 10.16.76 to 9.18.72. The best players included Shane Crawford, Luke Hodge, Brent Guerra, Jordan Lewis, Grant Birchall and Danny Jacobs.
That Round 4 Hawthorn victory was its third in a row against the Cats, after two big wins in 2006, but since then the win-loss record has been heavily in Geelong’s favour by 15 to 6. However, the Hawthorn wins have included the 2013 preliminary final to make it into the big dance, and the 2008 grand final to win the flag.
Read: The Hawks' injury list ahead of Round 4
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Before this season, the most recent occasion when the Hawks lost the opening three games of the season was in 2005, Alastair Clarkson’s first year as coach. He opened his winning account in Round 4. In front of 27,778 at the MCG, the Hawks beat the Brisbane Lions, which had played in the previous four Grand Finals, by 46 points – 18.7.115 to 10.9.69. Mark Williams kicked six goals, while Sam Mitchell (36 disposals), Shane Crawford (32) and Peter Everitt were outstanding. Few would have imagined that by the end of Clarkson’s fourth season his Hawthorn team would repeat the score of 18.7.115 in winning a Grand Final.
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Losing by 86 points, as Hawthorn did last Sunday, does not necessarily mean that a season is a write-off. In the Premiership year of 1991, Hawthorn lost against Adelaide by exactly that margin and, for good measure, lost to West Coast by 82 points a few weeks later. In another Premiership year, 1986, the Hawks suffered an even heavier defeat, losing to Essendon by 87 points.
There a number of other seasons where Hawthorn has made the Finals after very big losses. In 1994, the Hawks lost to North Melbourne by 127 points in Round 3 and then the following week suffered an 87 point defeat by Carlton, but recovered to make the Eight.
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This column would like to acknowledge the passing of that wonderful Hawthorn person, Dulcie Kennedy. She was the only person to be the wife, mother and grandmother of Hawthorn players. She will be sorely missed.
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Teia Miles’ appearances this season have seen the number 42 in action for the first time in seven seasons. The last player to wear 42 was Wayde Skipper who played 15 games in the 2010 season. Skipper made his Hawthorn debut in the same game as Shaun Burgoyne and made a valuable contribution to turning Hawthorn around from a 1-6 start to a position in the Finals.
The only other player to have made more appearances than Skipper in the number was Ian Paton who played the first half of his career in 42, wearing it in 76 games from 1976 to 1980 including in the 1978 Premiership. Three other Premiership players – Ray Jencke, Stephen Gilham and Matt Suckling began their careers in the number before moving to other numbers.
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Overall in Round 4, Hawthorn has won 40, lost 49, played two draws (1939 and 1996) and had one bye (1991). Hawthorn took longer to win in Round 4 than in any other round. It was not until 1941 that the club tasted success after 15 losses and one draw. The Hawks best Round 4 sequence was eight consecutive wins from 1974 to 1981. Hawthorn lost to Port Adelaide in Round 4 2015, before bouncing back in Round 4 last season against St Kilda in Launceston.
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40 years ago, in Round 4 1977, Hawthorn overcame not just a strong Carlton team but a lopsided free-kick count (54 to 28) to record a 13 point win. A Princes Park crowd of 30,505 saw a typically robust clash of the co-tenants which the Hawks won 13.18.96 to 12.11.83. With Peter Hudson held to just two goals, the Hawks needed another forward to step up and John Hendrie certainly did with five goals from his 17 kicks and nine marks. Michael Tuck, Barry Rowlings and Leigh Matthews were all prolific ball winners.
Read: There's a silver lining to Hawthorn's 0-3 start
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60 years ago, in Round 4 1957, Hawthorn found itself in the unusual position of playing in the match-of-the-day and also on television in the first season of TV coverage of VFL football. Despite fine weather, the game against reigning Premier Melbourne was low-scoring, Not often do six goals produce a comfortable win, but after not kicking a goal until almost half-time, Hawthorn took control and won 6.15.51 to 4.9.33.
Overall the team had many good players including John Kennedy, Geoff Howells, Len Crane, Allan Woodley, Roy Simmonds, Ray Yeoman and Maurie Young. Hawthorn fans could savior being on top for the second time in three weeks, quite an achievement having only been there once previously in 32 years.
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Jason Dunstall holds the individual goal-kicking record against Geelong kicking 12 goals in Round 1 of both 1990 and 1992. Michael Moncrieff has the best tally in Round 4, kicking nine goals at Waverley Park against South Melbourne in 1979.
