Reflecting on all the topical milestones and achievements, past and present, as we head into Round 13 of the 2018 season. This is 'Footy Flashbacks'....

Shaun Burgoyne will this Saturday night reach the milestone of 350 AFL games, exactly 30 years after Michael Tuck played his 350th game in Round 13 1988. 

Tuck had 22 disposals in his 350th, played at Princes Park a day after his 35th birthday. The Hawks marked the occasion with a solid 25-point win against Geelong – 17.10.112 to 12.15.87. Jason Dunstall kicked nine goals that day, while Gary Buckenara and John Platten were both outstanding.

Burgoyne played the first 157 games of his career at Port Adelaide, but like Tuck reaches the 350-game milestone having played in four Premierships. Of course, Tuck then captured a further three Flags after his 350th game, including one in his 426th and final game, the 1991 Grand Final.

Read: Silk soars to 350

Hawthorn has reached the half-way point of the 2018 home and away season with a 6-5 record. Twice in its history, the Hawks have converted such a start into a Premiership by the end of September. 

In 1983, the 6-5 record had the Hawks in fourth place, two games behind third, and only in the Five on percentage, being level on six wins with three other teams in the 12-team competition. In the second half of the home and away season Hawthorn reeled off a much better 9-2 record to rise to second on the ladder by Round 22.

In 1991, being 6-5 at half-way saw the Hawks in a lowly seventh in the competition which had that season increased to 15 teams. This time, Hawthorn had an even better second half winning 10 and losing just one of the last 11 games.

In both 1983 and 1991, one of Hawthorn’s losses in the second half of the home and away season was to its eventual Grand Final opponent, results which were reversed in emphatic fashion when it really mattered at the end of September.

Hawthorn’s three-point win against Port Adelaide continued the club’s excellent recent record in games decided by six points or fewer. Hawthorn has won 15 and lost just four of the last 19 such matches since late in the 2012 season. This recent positive run has seen Hawthorn go ahead in the overall record in these games, with 115 wins, 110 losses and 11 draws.

 

Hawthorn has won eight of its last nine games against Adelaide, the only blemish being a 24-point loss at the MCG in Round 2 last season. Prior to that defeat, the Hawks had won the previous seven, beginning with a 56-point victory in Round 3 2012 and including the five-point win in the 2012 Preliminary Final and the Paul Puopolo inspired three-point win in 2016.

Hawthorn avenged the Round 2 defeat when the two clubs met again at the Adelaide Oval in Round 14 last season. Hawthorn were bigger underdogs than at any time in their recent history and, although competitive in the first half, a three-goal half-time deficit still made defeat seem the most likely outcome. However, a stunning 8.8 to 3.6 second half saw the Hawks to an unlikely win, with the three Brownlow votes going to former Crow, Ricky Henderson.

The good recent record has given Hawthorn the lead in the head-to-head record between the two clubs, 21 to 19.

Hawthorn and Adelaide have met 10 times at the MCG, with the Hawks having the edge by six wins to four. Three of those 10 games were Finals, which saw Adelaide win in 1993 and the Hawks in 2012 and 2015.

One of the best victories in a home and away game between the clubs at the MCG was in Round 11 2003 when the 13th-placed Hawks snapped a four-game losing streak with a five-point win against the 5th placed Crows – 11.9.75 to 10.10.70. Shane Crawford (33 disposals) and Sam Mitchell (32) were outstanding, but for many the most memorable act of the day was the courage shown by a young Campbell Brown backing into a pack. He was one of several injuries on the day, which made the win particularly satisfying.

Overall, Hawthorn has played 91 matches in Round 13 for 42 wins, 48 defeats and one draw. The Hawks have won their past six Round 13 games, beating Essendon (2010 and 2015), Gold Coast (2011), West Coast (2013), Carlton (2014), and North Melbourne (2016), with byes in 2012 and last season.

20 years ago, in Round 13 1998, Hawthorn pulled off a monumental upset against high-flying North Melbourne at Waverley, scoring a thrilling two-point win - 17.12.114 to 17.10.112. It was particularly enjoyable, as it was the Hawks only win out of ten games between Rounds 8 and 17 of the 1998 season, and it was also the only win over North between 1994 and 1999. 

Nick Holland and Aaron Lord each kicked four goals to be among the best players, a list which also included Paul Salmon, Shane Crawford, Brendan Krummel and Richard Taylor. Memorable moments included Jason Dunstall’s 1250th career goal, Ben Dixon recovering from a heavy knock to put Hawthorn in front in the final term and a Jonathan Hay smother late in the game to prevent a likely North goal.

Rewind: Hawks prevail in thriller

Both 40 and 50 years ago, Hawthorn had Round 13 encounters with South Melbourne, winning by 21 points at Princes Park in Round 13 1978 and by 19 points at the Lakeside Oval in Round 13 1968. In 1978, both Leigh Matthews and Michael Moncrieff kicked six goals, while 10 years earlier Peter Hudson booted four.

Jason Dunstall holds the record against Adelaide, kicking nine goals on three separate occasions against the Crows – in 1993 and 1994 (both at Football Park) and in 1996 (at Waverley).

The Round 13 individual goal-kicking record for Hawthorn is nine, held jointly by Peter Hudson (1971) and Dunstall (1988 – see above), followed by bags of eight from Peter Knights (1972), Mike Moncrieff (1980) and Simon Minton-Connell (1995).