When Hawthorn played St Kilda 40 years ago in Round 6 1977, the Hawks set two records which remain in place to this day.

Hawthorn’s extraordinary score of 25.41.191 set League records for most behinds and most scoring shots. Hawthorn still clearly holds both records with the second highest tally of behinds being 35 by Geelong in 1981 and the second highest number of scoring shots being 60 by Carlton in 1969.

The inaccuracy was largely in the first half as the Hawks went to the long interval with a score of 10.24.84. Just two of the 41 behinds were rushed, with 13 individual players kicking at least one behind. The Matthews brothers were major contributors with Kelvin booting 4.6 and Leigh 4.5, while others included Peter Hudson (7.4), John Hendrie (3.4) and Bernie Jones (1.4).

In contrast to the Hawks opponents St Kilda kicked an accurate 16.7.103 (including 6.1 from George Young), so despite having 43 more scoring shot Hawthorn ‘only’ won by 88 points.

At the time, it also became Hawthorn’s highest score eclipsing 25.23.173 versus Geelong two seasons earlier. The 1977 Hawks equaled their new record later in the same season and it was beaten when Hawthorn kicked 28.26.194 against Footscray in 1982.

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When Jarryd Roughead kicked his 500th goal last Sunday, he became the sixth Hawk to reach the milestone. This means Hawthorn now has more 500 goal players than any other club, drawing ahead of Collingwood, Richmond and St Kilda. However, Hawthorn will not have the outright lead for long, as Jack Riewoldt’s six goals on Monday took him to 497 career goals, so Richmond will soon be joining Hawthorn with six 500 goal players.

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Hawthorn plays its first game for the season at the newly renamed University of Tasmania Stadium on Saturday, having won its previous 19 games at the venue. Hopefully, history does not repeat as the Hawks’ last loss in Launceston (to Sydney in 2012) was on the date of this week’s game, 29 April.

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The six game losing streak of 2016-17 which has just ended equaled one of the same length in 2010. The good news is that in 2010 the breakthrough win became the first of a run of seven consecutive wins. On the other hand, Hawthorn will have to create a slice of history to win this week. On the three previous occasions (1925, 1942 and 1998) when the club has won its first game for the season in Round 5, it has been followed by a loss in the next game.

However, there have been a couple of occasions when even long losing sequences at the start of the season have been followed by a string of wins. In 1960, under new coach John Kennedy Hawthorn lost the first five games before winning the next five, Ten years later, in 1970, the Hawks lost the first seven, but won eight of the next nine. More significantly, in both cases, Hawthorn won the Premiership the following season.

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Hawthorn and St Kilda have met twice previously in Launceston. The first was in Round 19 2009 when Hawthorn failed to win, despite the ladder-leading Saints resting several leading players, although to be fair the Hawks also had a number of its best players out injured. St Kilda won 10.14.74 to 7.7.49, with Ben McGlynn Hawthorn’s only multiple goalkicker with two. The attendance at the game was 20,011, the second highest ever for a Hawthorn game in Launceston.

That loss was the most recent occasion when Hawthorn has lost to St Kilda. The two clubs played a draw in 2010 and since then Hawthorn has won the last six matches between the two clubs. The second meeting in Launceston was in Round 4 last season when Hawthorn won by three points.

Overall, the clubs have met 153 times with the Hawks winning 80 and the Saints 71, plus two draws. Hawthorn has been drawn to play St Kilda less than any other club in recent home and away seasons. 2007 is the only season since 2001 when the two clubs have met twice in the regular season, although they ended up playing twice in 2008 as they met in the Preliminary Final.

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The Hawks won three consecutive Round 6 games from 2012 to 2014 before defeats at Spotless Stadium against GWS in both of the last two seasons. Overall in Round 6, Hawthorn has recorded 39 wins and 49 defeats in 88 matches (with byes in 1942, 1943, 1994 and 2011).

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60 years ago, in Round 6 1957, Hawthorn stormed home from 21 points down at three quarter time kicking seven straight in final term to beat Essendon at Windy Hill – 11.8.74 to 8.12.60. The highlight of the final term being four goals in ten minutes from Allan Woodley

Another factor in the win was the presence on the ground at three quarter time of a Sydney model known as the ‘motor scooter girl’. As told in Mud, Muscle & Blood: The Story of the 1957 Hawks, the model somehow ended up posing for pictures in the Essendon huddle and Hawthorn coach Jack Hale, seeing what was happening, told his players that the Bombers clearly thought they had the game won. He fired up the side and triggered a memorable win.

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Peter Hudson holds the record for the highest number of goals by a Hawthorn player against St Kilda, kicking 12 at Glenferrie in Round 15 1971 in a match which was a preview of the season’s Grand Final. Jason Dunstall holds the Hawthorn record for Round 6 kicking nine goals in both 1992 and 1993 (against Collingwood and Adelaide respectively), a tally equaled by Lance Franklin (against Essendon in 2007).