In fact, the Hawks have lost the last six matches between the two teams, with the most recent Hawthorn success being at the SCG in Round 19, 2003.  In that season the Hawthorn, which finished 9^th, did the double over Preliminary Finalist, Sydney, having earlier beaten them at the MCG in Round 4.

Sydney was actually the first opponent of the Clarkson-coached Hawthorn, in Round 1, 2005.  Only half of the Hawks’ team in that game are still on the Hawthorn list.  The departed 11 are Everitt, Holland, Hay, Jacobs, Smith, Lonie, Miller, Brennan, Dixon, Vandenberg and Thurgood. 

Harry Miller and Josh Thurgood (who both now play for Port Magpies in the SANFL) were two of the three debutants in that game, the other one being an 18 year old wearing no. 38 – Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin.   

When Hawthorn lost to the Swans in Round 22 last season, Adelaide also remained a team that had not been beaten under Clarkson’s coaching.  Since then, the Crows have been beaten three times – in the following week’s Elimination Final and in Rounds 4 and 12 this season.

Hawthorn has played South Melbourne / Sydney 142 times for 77 wins, 63 defeats and two draws. The best sequence of wins was 13 from 1971 to 1977, followed by 11 from 1981 to 1986, while the Swans best sequence against any opponent is the 15 wins they recorded against Hawthorn from 1929 to 1937, which they followed with another 13 straight form 1944 to 1951.

The Hawks and Swans did not meet at the MCG until 2001, but have played at the ground every season (except 2004) since.  The two clubs six MCG meetings have produced two wins and four defeats for the Hawks.

The crowd of 29,138 in Round 14 was the highest ever at a Hawthorn home game against West Coast.  The previous two highest were both at Waverley – 27,370 (1999) and 26,346 (1992), while the two earlier MCG home games had attracted crowds of 22,988 (2001) and 21,989 (2006).

Last season the crowd for the Hawthorn versus Sydney fixture at the MCG of 48,398 was the second largest ever for a Hawthorn versus South Melbourne / Sydney game.  The only bigger one was the 72,130 that attended the final match at Waverley Park in Round 22, 1999. 

The item earlier in the column which listed the players from Round 1, 2005 who have now left the club includes two, Peter Everitt and Luke Brennan, who are now at Sydney.  Only five players had previously made the move from Hawthorn to the Swans – Joe Meehan, Peter Charleston, Lance Morton, Michael Byrne and Dermott Brereton.

Twenty players have moved in the opposite direction, from the Swans to Hawthorn, the most significant probably being Len Thomas, who arrived as captain-coach in 1939, Len Crane who played 102 games in the 1950s, and 1978 Premiership player, Norm Goss.  The most recent arrival from Sydney was Brett O’Farrell who made his debut for Hawthorn in 1999.

Round 15 has been one of the most successful rounds in the 82 years Hawthorn has competed in the VFL/AFL. It is one of only two, of the first eighteen rounds, in which Hawthorn has a winning record – 43 wins, 2 draws and 38 losses.

In the 27 seasons from 1970 to 1996, Hawthorn’s Round 15 return was 24 wins and only three losses (in 1973, 1980 and 1990). Unfortunately, in the last ten years, the Hawks have only won twice in Round 15 - in 2002 and last season.

Peter Hudson holds the record for the most goals by a Hawthorn player against the Swans.  He kicked 13 goals against South Melbourne in consecutive matches in Round 11, 1969 and Round 8, 1970. Both matches were at Glenferrie and on both occasions he kicked the very accurate 13.2.

Hudson also holds the club’s Round 15 record of 12 goals recorded in 1971, against St Kilda, the team Hawthorn was to meet later that year in both the Second Semi and Grand Final.

The Friends of the Hawks Museum function on Sunday, 29 June was a great success.  Those attending got to hear some amazing stories about Glenferrie Days, read more about this very special function.