This Saturday, Hawthorn will play Melbourne in an AFL game at University of Tasmania Stadium for the first time.

Hawthorn’s record in its first meeting against new opponents in Launceston is a positive one with 10 wins and five losses, beginning with victory against Adelaide in 2001 and most recently suffering defeat by Essendon in 2021.

Playing Melbourne at University of Tasmania Stadium, will leave Collingwood as the only club which has not played an AFL game at the venue, although the Magpies have featured in pre-season Community Series games in Launceston and, due to Covid, nearly played an AFL game there in 2021 before a late switch back to the MCG.

Overall, Hawthorn has won 67 and drawn one of its 88 games in Launceston. Currently, the Hawks are on a 12-game winning streak at University of Tasmania Stadium, second only to a sequence of 19 consecutive victories in Launceston from 2012 to 2016.

This week, James Sicily will play his 150^th game in the number 6 guernsey.

In total, Sicily has played 193 career games, but the first 44 were in number 21. He is the third player to play 150 games in number 6, following Michael Moncrieff (225 games, 1971-83) and Josh Gibson (160 games, 2010-17), both of whom played their whole Hawthorn careers in the number.

The crowd of 35,238 at the MCG last Friday week was a new record for a game between Hawthorn and GWS. The previous record of 26,518 had stood since the first meeting between the clubs in Round 15 2012.

This season has also seen Hawthorn achieve new record home and away attendances against Geelong, Fremantle, Melbourne and Western Bulldogs. The previous two seasons saw the Hawks have new record home and away crowds against Adelaide, Brisbane Lions, Carlton, Essendon, and Richmond, which means there have been new records for Hawthorn against 10 of the 17 opposition clubs since the start of the 2024 season.

Nick Watson’s third goal against GWS last Friday night took him to 100 career goals, the 65^th Hawk to reach this milestone.

Watson reached the milestone in his 58^th game which puts him in between the other two great Hawthorn small forwards of this century, with Luke Breust reaching 100 goals in game 54 and Cyril Rioli in game 82.

The all-time quickest player to reach 100 Hawthorn goals was Jack Green, who reached the milestone in his 23^rd game in 1935, after transferring from Carlton at the start of the 1934 season. It was the first of nine goals Green kicked that day (in a loss), which meant he finished his 23^rd game with 108 goals. Only marginally slower was Peter Hudson who reached 100 goals in his 24^th game in 1968.

Hawthorn and Melbourne have played 174 times, with Hawthorn winning 89, Melbourne 84 and one draw (in 2021). Hawthorn’s record winning sequence against any club was 22 consecutive victories against the Demons from 1973 to 1984. The Hawks also had another substantial run from 2007 to 2016, winning 13 games in a row against Melbourne.

Hawthorn has a conventional 6-6 record in games played on this Saturday’s game date, 4 July, but with an odd pattern of reaching it. There were three losses from 1931 to 1953, six consecutive wins from 1959 to 1992, and three more losses from 1999 to 2014. Let’s hope we are now due for the start of another six victories!

Hawthorn has played 98 games in Round 17 for 39 wins, one draw (in 2010) and 58 defeats. There was no Round 17 in 1942 or 1943, and the Hawks had a bye in 2011. The club’s record in the round was not helped by only winning twice in the 16 seasons from 1994 to 2009. The Hawks won five consecutive Round 17 games from 2012 to 2016, with more recent wins in 2019, 2022 and against St Kilda last season.

10 years ago, in Round 17 2016, Hawthorn turned a five-point three-quarter time deficit into a five-point victory over Sydney at the SCG. The Hawks were actually even further behind at the 26-minute mark of the last quarter before late goals to Shaun Burgoyne and Cyril Rioli secured a memorable win – 11.9.75 to 10.10.70. Burgoyne got six Coaches’ votes and three Brownlow votes, while Sam Mitchell got eight Coaches’ votes and two Brownlow votes.

Regular Footy Flashbacks reader, Ian Oakley, has pointed out that the Box Hill Hawks’ game against Tasmania this week will be a significant milestone. It will be the 2,000^th match of the ‘second’ Hawthorn team, combining the Seconds/Reserves from 1925 to 1999, and Box Hill Hawks from 2000 onwards.

The Hawthorn Seconds/Reserves played a total of 1,493 games and won Premierships in 1958, 1959, 1972 and 1985. Since the beginning of the alignment with Box Hill, there have been 506 games played, with Premierships in 2001, 2013 and 2018.

Ian has calculated the combined win-loss record after 1,999 games as 936 wins, 1039 losses and 24 draws.

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.

Hudson has also kicked the most goals for Hawthorn in Round 17, a tally of 10 recorded against St Kilda at Waverley in 1977.