This Saturday, Jarman Impey will move into outright fourth place on the list of most Hawthorn games played after being recruited from another VFL-AFL club.

Impey has joined Joel Smith on 163 games, and this week will move to outright fourth behind only Jack Gunston, Shaun Burgoyne and Russell Greene. After 75 games for Port Adelaide (2014-17), Impey made his Hawthorn debut in Round 1 2018.

Playing in career-best form, Impey has become just the second current Hawk to receive consecutive ‘perfect 10s’ in the Coaches’ votes. Jai Newcombe received consecutive ‘perfect 10s’ spanning Round 24 2024 and the Elimination Final (for the Gary Ayres Award). The last Hawthorn player to get consecutive ‘perfect 10s’ solely in the home and away season was Tom Mitchell in 2018.

Readers might also be interested to know how common it is for a Hawthorn forward to kick seven or more goals and, like Jack Gunston last week, not receive the 10 Coaches’ votes.

Since the Coaches’ award began just over 20 years ago, there have been 15 regular season instances of Hawks’ forwards kicking seven plus goals, but only seven of the 15 were rewarded with a ‘perfect 10’. Almost all the others, like Gunston against Essendon, received eight votes, although Lance Franklin only got seven votes in 2013 for eight goals against Essendon.

Gunston has become the third current Hawthorn player to kick four goals in a quarter. His four majors in the third term against Essendon last Saturday saw him join Blake Hardwick (twice) and Mitch Lewis as current Hawks to have achieved this feat.

Essendon’s total of 5.9.39 last Saturday was its lowest ever score against Hawthorn, beating the previous record of 43 recorded in both 1974 and 2016.

Hawthorn’s current sequence of seven consecutive victories against North Melbourne is the longest winning sequence against the Kangaroos since a run of 14 consecutive victories from 1985 to 1993.

Hawthorn has played more games against North Melbourne than against any other opponent, meeting the Kangaroos 185 times, 10 more than the 175 matches against Carlton, Geelong and Melbourne. The figure against North was boosted enormously by playing them 20 times in the five seasons from 1974 to 1978. The Hawks have recorded 105 wins against North, with 78 defeats and two draws.

The two clubs have met on 11 previous occasions at University of Tasmania Stadium with the Hawks holding an 8-3 advantage. The most recent encounter there was in Round 16 last season when Hawthorn won by 85 points. The Hawks have twice won games against North in Launceston by over 100 points - a 115-point victory in 2012 and by 124 points in 2024.

Last week’s Flashbacks pointed out that Hawthorn had a 1-15 record in games on 25 July but that the one victory was by a bigger margin than any of the 15 defeats. Well, after Saturday, the record is 2-15, with both wins by bigger margins than any of the losses, with the wins by 92 points in 1993 and 93 points on Saturday.

This week’s game date has a much more even 7-8 win-loss record, although it is worth noting that the last time Hawthorn played on 1 August on a Saturday, in 1992, it resulted in a 160-point victory against Essendon. Five matches since then on the date have been on Fridays or Sundays.

Since it was first contested in 1970, Round 21 has been one of the best rounds for Hawthorn, with 39 wins and only 16 defeats, including victories in 13 consecutive Round 21 matches between 1982 and 1994, eight consecutive wins from 2006 to 2013, and seven more from 2016 to 2023 (there was not a Round 21 in 2020).

It is slightly ironic that, having won in several consecutive Round 21s when the team was not Finals-bound, the past two seasons have seen the team suffer Round 21 defeats, to GWS by two points in 2024 and Adelaide by 14 points last season.

Another feature of Hawthorn’s Round 21 wins is massive winning margins. In fact, five of the 29 100-point victories in Hawthorn’s VFL-AFL history have occurred in Round 21, more than in any other round. These were in 1983 (versus Melbourne), 1986 (Geelong), 1991 (Fitzroy), 2010 (Fremantle) and 2011 (Port Adelaide).

10 years ago, in Round 21 2026, Hawthorn set up victory with an 8.4 to 1.0 opening quarter blitz against North Melbourne. The Kangaroos got back within 13 points halfway through the third quarter before the Hawks steadied, winning by 39 points– 14.12.96 to 8.9.57. Cyril Rioli kicked three goals, while Sam Mitchell and Isaac Smith vied for best-on-ground honours.

20 years ago, in Round 21 2006, Hawthorn won a low-scoring game against the Kangaroos in Launceston by 22 points – 7.16.58 to 4.12.36. Only three individuals kicked goals for the Hawks – Ben Dixon (3), Lance Franklin (2) and Mark Williams (2). The best players included Sam Mitchell, Brad Sewell, Grant Birchall, Trent Croad and Chance Bateman.

30 years ago, in Round 21 1996, the Hawks kept their Finals’ hopes alive by defeating St Kilda at Waverley by 17 points – 12.8.80 to 9.9.63. Jason Dunstall kicked six goals, and Paul Salmon received the three Brownlow votes.

40 years ago, in Round 21 1986, Hawthorn led Geelong by three points at half-time, 10.8 to 10.5. In the second half Hawthorn added an incredible 25.7 to 3.7 to win by 135 points – 35.15.225 to 13.12.90. Jason Dunstall kicked nine goals but was eclipsed for the three Brownlow votes by Terry Wallace. Robert DiPierdomenico also starred with 33 disposals.

Lance Franklin’s 13 goals in 2012 set a new club record against North Melbourne, breaking the previous high of 10 kicked jointly by Alec Albiston (1940) and Jason Dunstall (1988).

Dunstall and Peter Hudson share Hawthorn’s Round 21 goalkicking record. Hudson kicked nine goals in Round 21 in both 1970 and 1971, while Dunstall recorded the same tally in 1986 and 1989.