Hawthorn has won 21 of its last 24 games against Carlton since the start of the 2001 season.
The only three losses in that period were all at Docklands, and each was by only a small margin – 12 points (2004), six points (2005) and seven points (2017).
This Friday’s game in Perth will be the fourth occasion when the two clubs have played outside Melbourne, having previously done so in Euroa (1952) and twice in Launceston (2016 and 2019).
10 years ago, in Round 9 2010, Carlton (with a 5-3 record) were expected to defeat the Hawks, who had only recorded two wins for the season.
However, a Sunday afternoon crowd of 47,484 saw a revitalised Hawthorn win 16.14.110 to 8.12.60, with Lance Franklin kicking five goals and Jarryd Roughead three. Two first-year players were involved in significant moments. Carl Peterson intercepted a Chris Judd kick to goal in the first quarter and Ben Stratton denied Setanta OhAilpin what seemed a certain goal in the third quarter.
Read: How each player performed in the weekend's scratch match
There was a similar scenario 50 years ago, in Round 9 1970, when the last-placed Hawks travelled to Princes Park to play the fourth-placed (and eventual Premiers) Carlton. An opening quarter of 5.8 to 1.1 set up the Hawthorn win by 32 points – 15.16.106 to 10.14.74. Peter Hudson booted six goals and Bob Keddie three, while Des Meagher, Peter Knights and Geoff Angus were among the best.
Keegan Brooksby has become just the fifth player in the last 75 years to make his Hawthorn when aged 30 years or over, The previous four were Darren Kappler (1996), paul Salmon (1996), Cameron Bruce (2011) and Brian Lake (2013).
Brooksby also became the third current Hawthorn player to make his debut wearing number 47, joining Luke Breust (2011) and Jonathon Ceglar (2013).
On all four occasions when Hawthorn has won in Round 9 in a year ending in zero, it has been against an opponent in a higher position on the ladder. As well as the victories against Carlton in 1970 and 2010, described above there were wins in 1960 and 1990.
60 years ago, in Round 9 1960, the ninth-placed Hawks travelled to the Junction Oval to take on the third-placed St Kilda and, despite kicking a very inaccurate 8.19.67, did enough to win by 12 points. John Peck was the only multiple goal-kicker with two, while the 23-year old Ian Mort from Kew Amateurs made his debut.
30 years ago, in Round 9 1990, despite having won the previous two Premierships, Hawthorn went in as underdogs, with a 5-3 record, compared to Melbourne (7-1) which was in top spot on the ladder. This was an opportunity for Melbourne to extract some revenge for their defeats in the 1987 Preliminary Final and 1988 Grand Final.
On an overcast Saturday afternoon at Waverley, the mood of Hawthorn supporters soon matched the weather. The opening quarter was an unmitigated disaster for the Hawks. Not only were the team outplayed and outscored, but Jason Dunstall had received a depressed fracture of the skull when, after completing a diving mark, he was accidentally kneed in the head. Also injured was Dermott Brereton and, like Dunstall, he was not to take any further part in the game. To add insult to injury, Brereton had been reported, as had Chris Langford, and those two were to be joined in the umpires’ books in the second quarter by Peter Schwab.
Hawthorn battled away for the next quarter and a half to ensure Melbourne’s lead remained around the two-goal mark. Younger players Andy Collins, Anthony Condon and Paul Cooper were outstanding, which was particularly noteworthy in Cooper’s case as he was only playing his sixth League game.
Still, for all the hard work, it was hard to see how Hawthorn was going to kick a winning score. Then came what appeared to be the final crippling blow to the Hawthorn cause - Gary Ayres injured his leg, severely reducing his mobility. In normal circumstances, he would have left the ground, but with no interchange available (with just wo on the bench in that era) all that coach Allan Jeans could do was shift him to full forward and hope he would at least keep a Melbourne defender semi-occupied. He did a bit more than that - he became the focal point of the brown and gold cause.
Ayres outpointed two defenders to take a pack mark and kicked the goal off a couple of steps. He added another later in the term, while also decisively winning a push and shove with a handful of Melbourne defenders. Sandwiched between his two goals, Dean Anderson had burst clear of a pack to score and give Hawthorn the most unlikely of leads.
The mood of Hawthorn supporters at three quarter time could not have been more different than it had been at quarter time. Now, the adrenalin was pumping, now they roared encouragement as the huddle broke up and, now, they sensed another chapter in Hawthorn’s remarkable history was about to be written. Melbourne recorded the opening score of the final term – a behind. It was to be their final score of the match.
In a classic piece of roving, John Platten read the ball off the pack at half forward and booted a 50-metre goal. Darrin Pritchard lifted the little champion high in the air to celebrate. Next, Anderson took a courageous mark running with the flight of the ball and calmly steered his set shot through.
Somehow, the half-lame Ayres managed to get 15-metres clear of his opponent Hughes to mark on the lead and kick a 50-metre goal off a two-step run-up. Moments later, taking a free for on-the-full, Platten managed to steer the wet ball through from the boundary, 45-metres out, to put the icing on the cake of an extraordinary Hawthorn victory, winning 14.8.92 to 7.6.48.
Hawthorn’s great goal-kickers never managed big bags against Carlton. Peter Hudson, Leigh Matthews and Jason Dunstall all had a top score of seven goals against the Blues. The best individual tallies for Hawthorn against Carlton are nine by Peter Knights in 1985, eight by Garry Young (in a losing side) in 1959 and another eight by Jarryd Roughead in 2009. Hudson holds the Round 9 record, booting 10 in a 30-point victory over Fitzroy at Glenferrie in 1968.
