This week, Hawthorn will play its first Saturday night game at the MCG for five years, and its first with a crowd for eight years.

The Hawks most recent Saturday night game at the MCG was in Round 18 2021, when a late Luke Breust goal secured a draw against eventual Premiers, Melbourne. That game was played without a crowd, after Melbourne went into a Covid lockdown in the week leading up to the game.

Since then, Hawthorn has played 48 games at the MCG, with five on Thursday nights, seven on Friday nights, 17 in earlier Saturday timeslots, 14 on Sundays and five on Easter Monday.

The Hawks most recent Saturday night MCG game with a crowd was against Adelaide in Round 13 2018, a game which saw the Hawks record a comprehensive 56-point victory, with James Sicily earning three Brownlow votes and 10 Coaches’ votes.

Matt Hill has become just the second individual born on New Year’s Day to play for Hawthorn. Hill was born on 1 January 2004, just nine years after the one other Hawk birthday on the first day of the year, which was Kurt Heatherley, born in 1995, who played five games in 2016-17.

Last round’s other debutant, Noah Mraz will need to play only one more game to equal the club record for most games for a player taken at pick 35 in the National Draft. The current record is two, held by Connor Downie, taken at pick 35 in the 2021 National Draft. The only other player taken by Hawthorn with pick 35 was Marcus Baldwin, who did not play any Senior games after being drafted in 1997 (although he subsequently played five games for Geelong). The picks on either side of 35 have to date been better, with pick 34 delivering Liam Shiels and pick 36 producing Sam Mitchell.

Speaking of Downie, Hill became the first Hawk since Downie in 2021 to wear the number 41 in an AFL game, while Mraz was the first to wear number 21 in an AFL game for Hawthorn since Tom Phillips in 2022.

In the 20 seasons from 2001 to 2020, Hawthorn won 22 of the 25 games played against Carlton, including 14 consecutive victories from 2005 to 2016. Carlton won three encounters from 2021 to 2023, before the wheel turned again in 2024, with the Hawks recording a thumping 74-point victory, followed up with two victories last season - by 20 points in Round 2 and 24 points in Round 20.

Despite the run of success this century, Hawthorn still trails the head-to-head against Carlton, 68 to 106 after 174 games. The current deficit of 38 is at least an improvement compared to when it reached 57 in both 1983 and 2000.

Josh Battle’s run of consecutive games from his Hawthorn debut at the start of last season has ended at 41 (with his AFL sequence, which started at St Kilda, concluding at 72). The only current Hawk with a longer sequence of consecutive games from his Hawthorn debut was Josh Weddle, who made 57 consecutive appearances, from his Round 7 2023 debut until Round 16 last season, while Jarman Impey, like Battle, played 41 consecutive from his Hawthorn debut.

Last Saturday’s 43-point final quarter margin reduction from a deficit of 78 points at three-quarter time to 35 points at the finish was easily the biggest in a loss in Hawthorn’s VFL-AFL history. The previous record last quarter reduction in a losing margin had been 36 points, recorded twice, against Carlton in 1968 (59 points to 23) and Fitzroy in 1986 (50 points to 14).

There have now been seven final quarter margin reductions of 30 or more points in a losing Hawthorn cause, the first of 31 points occurring against Essendon in 1929 and the most recent prior to Saturday, being 33 points against Port Adelaide in 2015.

Hawthorn has an outstanding recent record in Round 18, with 12 wins, a draw (in 2021) and just two defeats (in 2015 and 2025) in the last 15 matches played in the round. Overall, Hawthorn has played 98 Round 18 matches (there were no Round 18’s in 1925, 1942 or 1943) for 44 wins, 53 defeats and one draw.

10 years ago, in Round 18 2016, Sam Mitchell celebrated his 300^th game, as Hawthorn recorded a comfortable 70-point win against Richmond – 16.18.114 to 5.14.44. Mitchell marked his milestone in style with 38 disposals, nine Coaches’ votes and two Brownlow votes.

50 years ago in Round 18 1976, Hawthorn had to work hard at Princes Park to defeat a Melbourne team, having its best season for several years, by 18 points - 16.17.113 to 14.11.95. John Hendrie was outstanding with 21 kicks and five goals, while Rodney Eade got to enjoy his first win after debuting in the loss to Carlton the previous Saturday.

70 years ago, in Round 18 1956, Hawthorn came from 20 points down at half-time to finish the season by defeating Fitzroy at Brunswick Street by seven points – 10.17.77 to 9.16.70. The Hawks’ two best were Clayton ‘Candles’ Thompson and Kevin ‘Skeeter’ Coghlan, both of whom turned out to be playing their final games for the club.

Hawthorn’s great goal-kickers never managed big bags of goals against Carlton. Peter Hudson, Leigh Matthews and Jason Dunstall all had a top score of seven goals against the Blues. The best individual tallies for Hawthorn against Carlton are nine by Peter Knights in 1985, eight by Garry Young (in a losing side) in 1959 and another eight by Jarryd Roughead in 2009.

However, two Hawthorn forwards did record their 100^th goal for the season against the Blues, with Dunstall doing so in 1989 and Lance Franklin in 2008.

Peter Hudson holds the Hawthorn Round 18 record with a tally of nine against St Kilda in 1970. The previous highest before Hudson had come 30 years earlier when Jim Bohan kicked eight in 1940.