In this Anzac Day round, we should remember the eight Hawthorn players who lost their lives in World War Two - Jack Drake, Alf Giblett, Alex Nash, Richard Pirrie, Jack Price, Len Thomas, Max Wheeler and Gus Young.
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There will be a lot of publicity this week about the history-making first AFL game being played outside Australia, at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, NZ. What many might not remember is that Hawthorn once played a pre-season cup (Ansett Cup at the time) at that venue.
It was on Saturday, 29 January, 2000 (an early start in the year of the Sydney Olympics) when the Hawks ventured across the Tasman to play the Western Bulldogs. The game proved to be pretty one-sided as Hawthorn, the reigning pre-season premiers, crashed to a 47 point defeat - 13.7.85 to 4.14.38.
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The 166 games Hawthorn has played against North is the highest tally Hawthorn has played against any club. In those games, the Hawks have recorded 90 wins, 2 draws and 74 losses. The next highest number of games that Hawthorn has played against an opponent is 159 against Carlton.
This is the first meeting of the two clubs in Melbourne since Round 3 2009 when the Hawks beat the Kangaroos by 54 points at Docklands and the first at the MCG since 2008. The past four games have all been at Aurora Stadium, with Hawthorn winning 3 of them, including last season’s 115 point thrashing.
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25 years ago in 1988, Hawthorn also met North Melbourne in Round 5 at the MCG. In an amazingly high-scoring game, the Hawks won by 77 points - 31.19.205 to 19.14.128. The aggregate score of 333 is the third highest of any Hawthorn game behind 337 (Richmond, 1985) and 334 (Geelong, 1989). The Hawks had 12 individual goal-kickers headed by Jason Dunstall with 7, while Stephen Lawrence on debut equalled the club first League game record of 5.
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Hawthorn has played 87 games in Round 5 for 37 wins and 50 losses (having a bye in 1993). Hawthorn most recent Round 5 win was against West Coast in 2009, while in the past three seasons Hawthorn has lost to North Melbourne (2010), Geelong (2011) and Sydney (2012).
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5 years ago, in Round 5 2008, the Hawks won a high-scoring game against Brisbane Lions at the Gabba - 19.16.130 to 17.16.118. Lance Franklin kicked 8 goals and Brad Sewell starred in the midfield.
30 years ago, in Round 5 1983, Hawthorn bounced back from its Round 4 loss to Footscray to record a comfortable 22 point win against Collingwood at Victoria Park - 14.11.95 to 9.19.73, with Michael Tuck, Russell Greene, Terry Wallace and John Kennedy among the best. Another positive was Peter Knights performing well in his first game for the season. However, there was concern that Tuck had strained a hamstring and he missed the next two games.
40 years ago, in Round 5 1973, the Hawks overcame a 31 point half-time deficit to beat Footscray at Glenferrie by 16 points - 18.16.124 to 16.12.108. Charlie Grummisch kicked 4 goals and Wayne Bevan and Kelvin Matthews contributed 3 each.
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Round 5 produced what was then the highest, and remains the second highest, individual goal tally in Hawthorn history, when Peter Hudson kicked 16 against Melbourne at Glenferrie in 1969. The 13 goals Lance Franklin kicked last season set a new record for Hawthorn against North breaking the previous high of 10 kicked jointly by Alec Albiston (1940) and Jason Dunstall (1988).
