This Saturday, Jack Gunston will become just the second Hawk to reach the club 250-game milestone in a final, the other being Luke Hodge in the 2014 Grand Final.

By joining Shaun Burgoyne on 250 Hawthorn games, Gunston will also equal the record for the most Hawthorn games played after joining from another VFL/ AFL club.

Gunston will be the 19^th individual to play 250 games for Hawthorn, the second-highest number of any club, narrowly behind Geelong (20), but moving ahead of Richmond (18).

This week will also see Jai Newcombe play his 100^th game. Of the 151 Hawks to play 100 games, 12 have previously reached the milestone in a final, beginning with Brendan Edwards in the 1961 Grand Final and most recently with Dylan Moore in last season’s Semi Final.

Hawthorn has an outstanding finals record of 54 wins and 34 losses, the positive differential of 20 more wins than losses being the best of any club, ahead of Richmond (19), Melbourne (16) and Brisbane (11).

Hawthorn equalled a longstanding record by having an unchanged team against the Brisbane Lions in Round 24. Having also made no changes the previous week against Melbourne, it was just the second occasion in Hawthorn’s VFL-AFL history that the same team had been selected in three consecutive games. The one previous occasion was in Rounds 2, 3 and 4 of 1983 when, as this time, the Hawks won the first two games but lost the third.

This year is the third occasion since the introduction of the final eight, and the first for 25 years, that Hawthorn has finished in eighth position at the end of the home and away season.

The first instance was in 1996 when, under the previous version of the Eight, it meant a clash with minor premier Sydney. In a brave performance at the SCG, the Hawks lost by a goal after their momentum was halted by a serious knee injury to Jason Dunstall in the third quarter.

25 years ago, in 2000, the first season with the current version of the Eight, the eighth-placed Hawks took on fifth-placed Geelong in a Friday night Elimination Final. The first-ever Final played at Docklands attracted a crowd of 44,709 who saw a game which was close all night, with Hawthorn eventually prevailing by nine points – 14.8.92 to 12.11.83.

John Barker kicked four goals, Tony Woods had 29 disposals, and Nathan Thompson was also excellent. The moment of the match was provided by a brilliant checkside goal by 20-year-old Glen Bowyer in the second quarter, while a spectacular mark by Shane Crawford in the third quarter and a right-foot Ben Dixon goal in the final term also featured prominently in the highlights.

Josh Battle has become the second player to be selected as an All-Australian in his first season at Hawthorn, following Tom Mitchell in 2017, although it should be noted that John Platten was selected in what was then called the Team of the Year in his first season in 1986. Both Darren Jarman (1992) and Paul Salmon (1997) made the All-Australian team in their second Hawthorn seasons.

This Saturday sees Hawthorn play GWS in a final for the first time. This leaves only the two Queensland clubs, Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast, as ones Hawthorn has not faced in a Final.

The Hawks have a 9-6 record in first finals against new opponents, beginning with a win against Carlton in 1957, but losing their most recent first Final against Richmond in 2018.

The overall record against GWS is all tied up at eight wins apiece, plus a draw, in 17 games since the Giants entered the competition in 2012.

ENGIE Stadium will become the eighth venue at which Hawthorn has played a Final. The Hawks won their first finals at the MCG (1957), Waverley (1975), Subiaco (1991), Docklands (2000) and Football Park (2001), but lost their first finals at SCG (1996) and Adelaide Oval (2024).

As has been well-documented, Hawthorn is yet to win a game at ENGIE Stadium, having lost six times to GWS there, plus suffering defeats to Collingwood and Melbourne in Covid-era games in 2020.

While Hawthorn has played several recent Finals on 6 September, including last year against Western Bulldogs, this will be Hawthorn’s first game on a Saturday 6 September for 95 years. Back in 1930, it was Round 17 of an 18-round season and Hawthorn defeated North Melbourne at Arden Street by 15 points – 9.12.66 to 7.9.51.

It will be Hawthorn’s first final played on a Saturday since the 2015 Grand Final, with the six finals since then featuring one Thursday night and five Friday nights.

Hawthorn has now completed 60 seasons without claiming a wooden spoon. The only other clubs not to claim a wooden spoon since Hawthorn’s most recent one in 1965 are Geelong and Port Adelaide, while only Adelaide and Fremantle have as few as one, with all other clubs recording multiple last-placed finishes. In terms of premierships in the 59 completed seasons since that wooden spoon, Hawthorn has won 12 flags, with the next highest being Carlton and Richmond, both with eight.

40 years ago, in the first week of the 1985 finals, Hawthorn thrashed Footscray in the Qualifying Final at the MCG by 93 points – 22.23.155 to 8.14.62. Playing in his first final, Jason Dunstall kicked five goals, with Dermott Brereton and Michael Byrne contributing three apiece. Richard Loveridge and Terry Wallace both had 33 disposals in a dominant midfield performance.

The most goals by a Hawthorn player in the first week of the finals is the eight by Michael Moncrieff in the 1978 Qualifying Final versus Collingwood, equalled by Lance Franklin’s eight against the Western Bulldogs in 2008. Jarryd Roughead holds the Hawks’ individual record against GWS, kicking six in 2012 at the MCG.