In an intriguing fact in Hawthorn history, the only time the Hawks have won after losing before the bye was in Round 7, 2011, when Hawthorn beat this Saturday night’s opponent, Port Adelaide by 32 points at AAMI Stadium.

Sometimes there is conjecture by fans and those in the media that the bye week has stopped the momentum built by that team before the week’s rest if they happen to lose the next game.

This year, Hawthorn won six of its first eight games before the bye.

So, taking that into account and given the Hawks face a big test against a red-hot Port Adelaide on Saturday night without a number of stars (Sam Mitchell, Cyril Rioli, Brian Lake and Josh Gibson are all injured) hawthornfc.com.au has discovered that Hawthorn’s record coming off the bye is impressive.

Since the bye began in 2004, the Hawks have won eight games played after the week’s rest from 12 starts.

Given the Hawks were defeated by Sydney in their last outing at ANZ Stadium on Friday night in Round 8, Saturday night’s clash against the Power is just the fifth time in the Club’s history that they have lost the game played before the week off.

It happened in 2004 when the Hawks were beaten by Carlton by 12 points, in 2005 when beaten by St Kilda by 46 points, in 2009 when defeated by Brisbane by 42 points and, in 2011 when Hawthorn was beaten by Geelong by 19 points.

The Hawks have lost three of four games played after losing the week before the bye but those losses came in years that Hawthorn missed the finals (in 2004, 2005 and 2009).

The victory came in 2011, the same year in which Hawthorn was narrowly beaten by Collingwood in the Preliminary Final.

Hawthorn faced Port Adelaide in Round 7 that season after losing to the Cats by 19 points at the MCG in Round 5.

The Hawks travelled to Adelaide, like they will this week to take on the Power and managed to put the loss before the bye behind them and regain their status as one of the league’s top teams with a 32-point victory at AAMI Stadium.

From there, Hawthorn won 15 of their next 17 home-and-away matches - with losses to only Collingwood and Geelong – the two sides that played off in the Grand Final that year.

Is that a good omen for Hawthorn on Saturday night and the rest of 2014? That’s up to you.