Hawthorn has had three players kick their first goals for the club in the same game for the first time in 18 years and the first time in a non-Round 1 game for 50 years.

Last Sunday against Richmond, Josh Battle got his first Hawthorn goal in the second quarter, Ollie Greeves got his first AFL goal in the third term and Noah Mraz kicked his first with the last kick of the match.

The most recent instance of the Hawks having three first-time goalkickers in the same game was in Round 1 2008, when Stuart Dew, Cyril Rioli and Cameron Stokes all kicked goals on their Hawthorn debuts. The most recent occurrence, not in the first game of the season, was in Round 7 1976 when the three new goalkickers were Graham Spark, Peter Murnane and Kelvin Steel.

The Hawthorn record for most first-time goalkickers in a single VFL-AFL game is five, recorded twice 40 years apart, in the opening rounds of both 1926 and 1966.

Josh Battle got his first Hawthorn goal in his 42nd game for the club, the furthest into a Hawk’s career since Sam Frost in his 48th game in 2022, but a long way behind club record-holder Josh Gibson who recorded his first Hawthorn goal in his 127th game for the club.

Hawthorn has a faultless Round 20 record against Essendon, having played six and won six. This includes a record-breaking 160-point thrashing handed to the Bombers at the MCG in 1992 and, at the other end of the scale, twice winning by four points – at Windy Hill in 1979 and at the MCG in 2018. The other three wins - in 1972, 2005 and 2006 – came by the margins of 19, 13 and 18 points respectively.

Michael Tuck almost single-handedly drove an injury-ravaged Hawthorn team to a four-point win against Essendon at Windy Hill in Round 20 1979. His statistics of 34 disposals and four goals are impressive enough, but they only tell part of the story. Hawthorn trailed by 22 points half-way through the final term but fought back valiantly before a booming long goal from Tuck snatched the lead. Essendon had time for one last attack, but a kick into the teeth of goal was marked by Tuck, remarkably saving the game as well as winning it.

On the other hand, the Hawks will need to overcome a date hoodoo to win on Saturday. Hawthorn has played 16 previous games on 25 July and won just one of them, ironically by a bigger margin, 92 points, than any of the defeats. That solitary win was against Sydney at Waverley in 1993.

Jack Gunston has joined Hawthorn greats, Peter Knights and Jordan Lewis on 264 games for the club, the illustrious trio sharing 13^th place on the all-time games’ list. Gunston is now just one behind Luke Breust on the goals list, with 552 majors to Breust’s 553.

Hawthorn has the opportunity to win three consecutive games against Essendon for the first time since winning five in a row from 2010 to 2014. The Hawks have twice won six consecutive games against the Bombers, from 1987 to 1989, and from 2005 to 2008. Overall, the two clubs have met 171 times, with the Hawks winning 68 and Essendon 103.

Jarman Impey received 10 Coaches’ votes for his career-high 34-disposal game against Richmond. It was the second time he had received a perfect 10 this season, having previously done so in Round 11 against Adelaide. Impey now has 42 votes for the season, second for the Hawks, behind Jai Newcombe with 64. This is the highest tally of Impey’s career, surpassing the 28 votes he received last season.

Mitch Lewis’ narrow miss on the quarter time siren against Richmond denied him the opportunity to join Blake Hardwick as current Hawthorn players to have kicked four goals in a quarter twice. Lewis previously kicked four in a quarter in Round 2 2022 against Port Adelaide. Apart from Hardwick and Lewis, no other current Hawk has kicked four goals in a quarter.

Overall, Hawthorn has played 58 matches in Round 20, winning 33 and losing 25. The Hawks won in Round 20 for six consecutive seasons from 2010 to 2015, with more recent victories coming against Adelaide (2024) and Carlton last season. There was a Round 20 in 1945 and then in every season since 1968, apart from the Covid-affected 2020.

20 years ago, in Round 20 2006, Hawthorn produced a stunning first half score of 16.7.103 to open up a 61-point half-time lead against Essendon. The young 2006 Hawks team were unable to sustain that scoring pace in the second half and ended up with an 18-point margin - 19.10.124 to 15.16.106. Still, there was much cause for optimism as the stars of the future were much to the fore, with both Sam Mitchell and Luke Hodge accumulating 34 disposals and Jarryd Roughead kicking four goals.

40 years ago, in Round 20 1986, the Hawks doubled Collingwood’s score, winning 20.24.144 to 10.12.72. The star was Robert Dipierdomenico who earned the three Brownlow votes in his Medal-winning year for a game in which he gathered 28 disposals and booted a career-high five goals. Dermott Brereton and Jason Dunstall both contributed three goals, while Terry Wallace and Michael Tuck were also prolific ball-winners.

50 years ago, in Round 20 1976, Hawthorn secured one its rare 1970s victories at the Junction Oval, sneaking home by just three points against an inaccurate Fitzroy – 14.10.94 to 12.19.91. Michael Moncrieff kicked five goals, while the best players’ list was headed by the defenders Ian Bremner and David O’Halloran, with Leigh Matthews also prominent.

Jason Dunstall set the club individual goal-kicking record against Essendon and the Round 20 record at the same time with 12 goals against the Bombers in Round 20 1992. Symmetrically, Michael Moncrieff provided the third highest tally both against Essendon and in Round 20 with his 10 goals against Essendon in Round 20 1972. Another big bag against Essendon was 11 by Leigh Matthews in 1973 and another large Round 20 haul was Dunstall’s 11 versus Collingwood in 1990.