Having won 10 of our last 11 meetings with this week’s opposition Fremantle, you’d have thought a run of dominance such as that would rank higher than the Hawks’ fifth best recent record against opposition sides.

But not to be.

Take a look as we explore our form against each of the 17 opposition clubs and rank our recent history from one to 17!

Adelaide

Hawks’ form: 9 wins from last 10 games

Streak ranking: 6^th

With Adelaide being grand finalists in 2017 and participants in the previous three finals series, some would be surprised to learn that the Hawks have had the Crows’ measure almost exclusively in recent years. The Hawks have dropped just one of their last 10 meetings with the South Australian side. Impressively, the Hawks have taken on the Crows in Adelaide in four of these occasions, three times at Adelaide Oval and once at Football Park, and returned with the four points on each of these interstate travels.

Brisbane

Hawks’ form: 8 wins from last 10 games

Streak ranking: 9^th

Before this year, the Lions were victim to the Hawks’ longest winning streak against an opposition side, having lost eight consecutive games to the Hawks dating back to 2010. But, led by Chris Fagan, the developing Lions side have been able to wrench back some results in their favour in 2018. The Lions have won both of the sides’ encounters in 2018, seeing them quickly drop to ninth on the Hawks’ streak ladder.

Carlton

Hawks’ form: 15 wins from last 16 games

Streak ranking: 2^nd

Before Hawthorn’s seven-point loss to Carlton in Round 22 last year, you had to look all the way back to Round 6 2005 for the Blues’ most recent victory over the Hawks. The Blues may have put an end to an embarrassing 14-game stretch of losses last year, but they maintain one of the poorest records against the Hawks over the recent era. The last 16 games between the two clubs has seen two 100-point margins and seven games of 50-plus points.  

Collingwood

Hawks’ form: 11 wins from last 12 games

Streak ranking: 3^rd

Collingwood may be one of the form sides of 2018, sitting third on the ladder ahead of Round 19, but they also find themselves with the third-worst streak of form against Hawthorn. Since Nathan Buckley took over the coaching reigns at the start of the 2012 season, these sides have met 12 times for only one Collingwood win. In fact, of every coach that Alastair Clarkson has battled at least six times, he boasts his greatest winning percentage over Buckley.

Essendon

Hawks’ form: 8 wins from last 10 games

Streak ranking: 10^th

One of the most famous rivalries in the game, the Hawks have held sway over the Bombers for the majority of the past decade. Essendon have notched two wins across their last 10 meetings with the Hawks, most recently in the 2017 season opener. With an average winning margin of over 50 points across their eight wins, Alastair Clarkson’s side has handed Essendon some punishing blows in recent memory.  

Fremantle

Hawks’ form: 10 wins from last 11 games

Streak ranking: 5^th

Since the Dockers defeated the Hawks in the 2010 elimination final, the Hawks have ensured a loss to Ross has been a rarity since. Winning 10 of their last 11 match-ups, Hawthorn have barley afforded Fremantle a look-in since. The most notable of these wins was of course the 2013 Grand Final, when the Hawks kicked off what would be the first flag of an historic premiership threepeat, with a 15-point win over Freo.

Watch: The last time we met Fremantle

Geelong

Hawks’ form: 5 wins from last 9 games

Streak ranking: 16^th

Geelong holds one of the strongest recent records against the Hawks in the competition, despite the brown and gold still holding the slight ascendancy over the clubs’ previous nine meetings. Winning form seems to come in bunches in this rivalry, with the Hawks’ one-point win over the Cats in Round 2 ending a four-game streak in favour of the Cats, which came after a four-match winning run for the Hawks, which followed soon after the end of the Kennett Curse.

Gold Coast

Hawks’ form: 9 wins from 11 games

Streak ranking: 8^th

The Hawks have faced the Suns on 11 occasions since the club’s inception into the AFL in 2011. The Hawks’ record against Gold Coast is unblemished if you disregard the two hiccups of 2017. Of the Hawks’ nine wins against the Suns, six of them have been by margins of 50 points or greater.

Greater Western Sydney

Hawks’ form: 3 wins and 1 draw from 7 games

Streak ranking: 17^th

GWS hold the best record against the Hawks of any opposition side, having broken even with three wins and a draw from their seven outings over the fledgling club’s history. Since the Giants’ 162-point loss to the Hawks in Round 15 of their debut year in 2012, which remains the greatest loss of their seven seasons, they have done a lot of work to square the ledger. In fact, the Hawks have failed to defeat the Giants in any of their past four match-ups.

Melbourne

Hawks’ form: 15 wins from 16 games

Streak ranking: 1^st

From the best recent record against the Hawks to the worst, Melbourne have pinched just one win from the Hawks across their last 16 matches. A 16-game span that reaches back to Round 2 2007, the Demons have had eight different senior coaches across those games, with Paul Roos in Round 20 2016 the only one to prove victorious over Alastair Clarkson.

North Melbourne

Hawks’ form: 8 wins from 10 games

Streak ranking: 11^th

Despite having played finals in four of the last six seasons, North Melbourne’s level of success over that period hasn’t really troubled the Hawks. The Kangaroos have overcome the Hawks in two of their last 10 meetings, in Round 16 2014 and in the sides’ latest clash in Round 5 earlier this year.

Port Adelaide

Hawks’ form: 8 wins from last 12 games

Streak ranking: 13^th

Hawthorn have won 8 of their last 12 games against Port Adelaide, dating back to 2011. But in more recent times, namely since Port’s appointment of Ken Hinkley in 2013, the Hawks have had more difficulty in their dealings with the Power. Over the eight-game span with Hinkley in charge, the match-up is squared at four wins apiece.

Richmond

Hawks’ form: 9 wins from 15 games

Streak ranking: 15^th

The Tigers have proved a difficult task for the Hawks to overcome of late. Even throughout the seasons of 2012 to 2015, when the Hawks played in four consecutive Grand Finals and won three of them, the Tigers won three of the clubs’ four meetings across that period. The reigning premiers have also won their last two outings against the Hawks, heightening their reputation as one of the Hawks’ bogey sides over recent times.

St Kilda

Hawks’ form: 7 wins from last 8 games

Streak ranking: 7^th

Save for the humiliating 75-point loss that the Hawks suffered at the hands of the Saints in Round 6 last year, Hawthorn has been a dominant force against St Kilda this decade. Over their seven wins over the Saints, the Hawks have averaged a 51-point winning margin, helped by the 145-point drubbing they handed them in Round 7 2014.

Sydney

Hawks’ form: 6 wins from last 9 games

Streak ranking: 14^th

The Hawks hold an ascendancy over the Swans in recent times, with six wins from their past nine meetings. The rivalry has brought about some incredible games, most notably across the last seven matches where five of those games have been decided by single-digit margins. Interestingly, over the three games that have been played in Sydney over this period, Hawthorn has won all three of them.

West Coast

Hawks’ form: 8 wins from last 11 games

Streak ranking: 12^th

2015 Grand Final combatants, these two sides have an even win-share of three victories apiece since that Perth qualifying final in 2015. Before that game, the Hawks won the previous five encounters between the two sides.

Western Bulldogs

Hawks’ form: 10 wins from last 11 games

Streak ranking: 4^th

Of these sides’ last 11 meetings, the Hawks have been triumphant in all bar one occasion- the 2016 semi-final. The Dogs barreled Hawthorn out of the finals series on the way to their historic premiership win in 2016, but, apart from that nightmarish evening at the MCG, the Bulldogs have struggled to overcome the brown and gold.