This Saturday, Connor Macdonald will become the first player to debut under Sam Mitchell’s coaching to reach 100 games.

Macdonald debuted in Mitchell’s first game in charge in Round 1 2022 and has played 99 of a possible 105 games in the past four and a half seasons

Others to be the first to 100 games under only one Hawthorn coach include Jarryd Roughead under Alastair Clarkson, Richard Loveridge under Allan Jeans, Peter Hudson under John Kennedy Snr., and Alf Hughes under Jack Hale.

Last Thursday night’s attendance of 54,140 was a record for a home and away game between Hawthorn and Fremantle, comfortably eclipsing the previous high of 49,460 in Round 18 last season.

It was also the second largest crowd to attend a Hawthorn game at a non-Victorian venue, behind only the 55,859 who watched Hawthorn defeat West Coast at Perth Stadium in Round 23 2019. In total, there have been eight 50,000-plus attendances at Hawthorn games outside Victoria, the biggest being the above two in Perth, with the other six at the Adelaide Oval (two in Finals and four in the regular season).

Sad news last week with the passing of Geoff Ablett, a significant member of the 1976 and 1978 Premiership teams, with his outstanding play on the wing. He played 202 games for the Hawks and kicked 135 goals, placing him in the Hawthorn top 50 in both games and goals.

From his debut in Round 7 1973 to his final appearance in brown and gold in the 1982 Preliminary Final, Ablett played his 202 games in just 10 seasons. This means that, of the 38 Hawthorn 200-game players, Ablett is one of three to have a career of just 10 seasons, the others being Andy Collins (1987-96) and Isaac Smith (2011-20). Several other players reached their 200^th game in their tenth season, but their careers extended into future years.

The fact that Ablett’s brothers Kevin (31 games, 1977-80) and Gary (6 games, 1982) also played for Hawthorn made them the most recent of five families to have three brothers play for Hawthorn, the others being the Francis, Austen, Considine and Hay brothers.

Keen observers may have noticed that for the second consecutive season, Hawthorn lost away to Fremantle by the same margin as the Hawks’ three-quarter time lead, 13 points last season and 15 points this season.

Remarkably, in Hawthorn’s whole VFL-AFL history since 1925, the phenomenon of losing by the margin of a three-quarter time lead has only happened on one other occasion, against Sydney at the MCG in 2015, when the Hawks’ four-point final change advantage became a four-point full-time defeat.

Pleasingly, the reverse scenario, Hawthorn winning by the same margin it trailed by at three-quarter time, has happened more often, on a total of seven occasions. The first was in 1956 against Footscray and the most recent on Easter Monday 2022, when the Hawks trailed Geelong by 12 points at the final change and then won by 12 points. There is also an instance of the scores being level at three-quarter time and the match being drawn, which was against St Kilda in 2010.

This Saturday, Hawthorn will be attempting to win three consecutive games against Melbourne for the first time in a decade. From 2007 to 2016, Hawthorn won 13 games in a row against the Demons. However, that was not Hawthorn’s longest winning sequence against Melbourne as, from 1973 to 1984, the Hawks recorded 22 consecutive victories against the Demons, its record sequence against any club.

Overall, the two clubs have played 173 times, with Hawthorn winning 89, Melbourne 83 and one draw (in 2021).

Hawthorn’s most recent game on this week’s game date, 16 May, was also against Melbourne, in Round 7 2015, and resulted in a 105-point win to the Hawks – 24.11.155 to 7.8.50. Jarryd Roughead had an equal career-high 30 disposals and kicked four goals. Grant Birchall celebrated his 200^th game.

Bodie Ryan has become the fifth individual to play a VFL-AFL game for Hawthorn after being recruited from SANFL club, Glenelg. The previous four were Tony Symonds (debuted) 1987), Tony Hall (1988), Simon Cox (via Western Bulldogs, 2002) and Tim O’Brien (2014).

Round 10 has been one of Hawthorn’s best rounds, with 51 wins and 49 losses from 100 games, having had the bye in 2020. In recent years, Hawthorn had consecutive Round 10 Launceston wins in 2022 and 2023, before a heartbreaking one-point loss to Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval in 2024 and a defeat by Gold Coast in Darwin in Round 10 last season.

10 years ago, in Round 10 2016, Hawthorn played its first game at the Gabba for eight years and comfortably accounted for Brisbane Lions by 48 points – 21.9.135 to 13.9.87. Cyril Rioli kicked five goals and Jordan Lewis had 42 disposals. Matt Spangher played what turned out to be the final game of his career.

30 years ago, in Round 10 1996, the Hawks revived their season with a stunning last quarter against Fremantle in Perth. The accurate Hawks held a 10-point lead at the final change – 10.3 to 7.11. Remarkably, Hawthorn then added 7.5 to 0.0 in the last quarter to win by 57 points. The result was a fitting tribute to Andy Collins in his 200^th game.

50 years ago, in Round 10 1976, Hawthorn came from two points behind at the final change to beat Richmond by 12 points at the MCG – 15.10.100 to 13.10.88. Leigh Matthews kicked five goals and Michael Moncrieff three, while Geoff Ablett was the leading kick-getter with 19.

Peter Hudson holds the record for most goals by a Hawthorn player against Melbourne, kicking 16 in Round 5 1969, the second-highest figure in any game in Hawthorn history.

Lance Franklin holds the Hawthorn individual goalkicking record for Round 10 with his 13 goals against North Melbourne in 2012 surpassing the previous round record of nine, held jointly by Peter Knights (1985), Paul Hudson (1991) and Jason Dunstall (1998), against Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon respectively.