Hawthorn veterans Luke Breust and Jack Gunston have significant milestones ahead of them.

Breust’s next game will be his 308th, taking him to outright third on the Hawthorn career games list, behind only club legends, Michael Tuck (426 games) and Leigh Matthews (332). He currently shares equal third on 307 games with Sam Mitchell.

Meanwhile, Gunston is poised to become just the eighth Hawk to kick 500 goals for the club.

His seven goals last Saturday took him to 499 Hawthorn goals out of his overall AFL career tally of 541 goals (which includes 42 goals for Adelaide and Brisbane).

Gunston has also become the first Hawthorn player to reach 60 goals in a season since Jarryd Roughead booted 75 goals in 2014.

The first Hawthorn player to reach 60 goals in a season was Bert Hyde, who remarkably managed an incredible 62 goals in Hawthorn’s winless 1928 season.

The most significant Hawthorn moment at the Gabba came in 1994, when Jason Dunstall kicked his 1000th career goal.

Dunstall went into the Round 23 1994 game on 999 career goals, and after just three minutes, he marked and goaled to bring up the milestone. In doing so, he became just the third player to reach 1000 VFL-AFL goals, following Gordon Coventry and Doug Wade, while Tony Lockett, Gary Ablett Snr. and Lance Franklin have done so subsequently.

Hawthorn survived a Brisbane Bears fightback to win the game 15.12.102 to 13.13.91, Dunstall finishing with six goals.

This Sunday night, Hawthorn will be hoping to improve on a poor record at the Gabba, which has seen just six wins from 19 games against Brisbane, plus a loss to Essendon there in 1981, making the record 6-14 overall.

Part of the explanation for the poor Gabba record is that Hawthorn was not fixtured to play an away game against the Lions in the seven seasons from 2009 to 2015 when the Hawks were the stronger team. However, Hawthorn had played there in 16 consecutive seasons from 1993 to 2008, a span which included Brisbane’s first dominant period. To be fair, the Hawks have largely avoided trips to the Gabba in Brisbane’s second dominant spell, with this Sunday’s game being the first trip to the Gabba since 2019.

Hawthorn’s most recent win at the Gabba was in Round 10 2016 when a nine-goal final term clinched a 48-point win – 21.9.135 to 13.9.87. Jordan Lewis, Cyril Rioli and Josh Gibson were among the best.

Overall, Hawthorn and Brisbane have played 56 times, with the Hawks winning 35 and losing 21. Hawthorn won eight consecutive games against the Lions from 2010 to 2017, then lost four games in 2018-19, before winning five games from 2020 to 2024, but lost at the MCG in Round 11 this season.

By last round having an unchanged team for the first time this season, Hawthorn has had at least one unchanged team in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 2010-12. The Hawks had one unchanged team in 2023, a record five unchanged teams in 2024 and now one in 2025. It makes a contrast to the five seasons from 2018 to 2022, when Hawthorn did not have a single unchanged team.

This week’s game is being played on an auspicious date, as Hawthorn has not lost on 24 August for 51 years. After losing to Geelong on 24 August 1974, the Hawks have won their past seven matches on the date, most recently defeating North Melbourne on 24 August last season.

This is only the second time Hawthorn has been fixtured to play Brisbane in the final round of a home-and-away season. The one previous occasion was in Round 22, 1993, when Brisbane were still the Bears. It was the first time the clubs had met at the Gabba, with Brisbane having moved there that season from their previous home at Carrara.

Hawthorn recorded a comfortable 57-point victory – 24.19.163 to 15.16.106 – with Jason Dunstall kicking 10 goals and Tony Hall four. Darren Jarman (29), Paul Cooper (28) and Ben Allan (25) led the disposal count.

The Hawks finished the unusual 20-game (plus two byes) 22-round season with a 13-7 record and fourth position, securing a home Elimination Final against Adelaide under the Final Six format.

There have been six previous Round 24s (1991-92, 1994, 2011 and 2023-24), with Hawthorn winning five and the only loss being to Fremantle in 2023. The Hawks’ wins have included some big margins, with an 80-point defeat of Essendon at Waverley in 1991 and a 124-point thrashing of North Melbourne at University of Tasmania Stadium last season.

Jason Dunstall holds the club individual goal-kicking record against Brisbane, with 11 goals in the first-ever match between the two clubs at Carrara in 1987. He also holds the Round 24 record with six against Melbourne in 1992. Luke Breust’s first five-goal haul was in Round 24 2011, in his 16th career game, against Gold Coast at Carrara.