This Sunday, Geelong will become the third Victorian club that Hawthorn has hosted at Aurora Stadium. The Hawks beat both Richmond and the Kangaroos there last season.

Other matches Hawthorn has played against Victorian teams outside Victoria were against North Melbourne at the SCG in 1979, Essendon at the Gabba in 1981 and Fitzroy at North Hobart in 1991.

Winning three out of three games at Aurora Stadium last season took the Club’s record in Launceston to eight wins and four losses, in the 12 matches Hawthorn has played there since 2001.

Hawthorn’s overall record against Geelong is 65 wins, 72 losses and one draw (in 1963) from 138 meetings. Last season, Hawthorn did the double over the Cats beating them by 52 points at Geelong in Round 3 and by 61 points at Docklands in Round 22. In the previous three seasons (2003-05), Geelong had won the four matches played by the comfortable margins of 34, 56, 65 and 55.

In the 25 games between the two clubs from 1987 to 2000, the Hawks had 20 wins, including 10 by less than two goals, versus only five wins (none in close games) for the Cats. The 10 wins in close games were by margins of three (1987), eight (1989), six (1989 GF), two (1991 SSF), five (1995), two (1996), six (1997), two (1999), two (1999 again) and nine (2000 EF).

In the scenario when Hawthorn has lost in Round 1 and then won in Rounds 2 and 3 what has been the result in Round 4? Hawthorn recorded Round 4 wins in 1955, 1959, 1961, 1980, 1988 and 1989; a loss in 1954, a draw in 1939 and had the bye in 1991.

Hawthorn has played 81 times in Round 4 (having a bye in 1991). The team has had 34 wins, 45 losses and two draws (in 1939 and 1996). Round 4 is one of only two rounds (the other being Round 20) in which Hawthorn won in both 2005 and 2006.

Hawthorn took longer to win in Round 4 than in any other round. It was not until 1941 that the Club tasted success after 15 losses and one draw. The Hawks won eight consecutive Round 4 games from 1974 to 1981.

Andrew Collins made his debut 20 years ago this round, making his first senior appearance in a shock loss to Footscray at the Western Oval, in Round 4, 1987. He went on to set the club record for consecutive games, playing 189 in a row from Round 19, 1988 to Round 22, 1996. Before embarking on the consecutive games sequence, he played 23 games in five batches, none of which exceeded nine games.

The current playing group have a fair way to go to match Collins’ record, with the longest current sequence of consecutive games being Luke Hodge’s 33, followed by Rick Ladson, Sam Mitchell, Brad Sewell and Robert Campbell all on 25. Ben Dixon had a sequence of 41, until he did not play in Round 1.

The individual goal-kicking record for a Hawthorn player versus Geelong is 12 by Jason Dunstall in 1990 and 1992, while Wally Culpitt kicked 10 against them in 1944. The record for Round 4 is the 9 goals booted by Michael Moncrieff at Waverley Park against South Melbourne in 1979.

1957 – Fifty years on

Round 2, 1957 – Saturday 27 April 1957 at Glenferrie

Hawthorn 9.22.76 d. Richmond 8.9.57

Morale was high at Glenferrie early in the 1957 season and the press reported that enthusiastic supporters decorated the race with brown and gold streamers and balloons for the first home game of the season, versus Richmond in Round 2.

Despite the success at Carlton in Round 1, Hawthorn had to make three changes the following week, including Cyril Collard’s late withdrawal through injury and his replacement by Ray Yeoman.

Hawthorn began sluggishly, not managing a goal until half way through the second quarter when Brian Falconer booted one. Full forward, Terry Ingersoll, fresh from his five goal debut, was winning the ball, but kicked three behinds from four shots. Despite their inaccuracy, the Hawks did manage to hit the lead right on three quarter time, courtesy of a behind kicked by Yeoman, who earlier in the term had scouted cleverly for the team’s only goal of the that term.

After managing only nine goals between them for three quarters, the two teams produced a comparative avalanche of scoring in the final term. Phil O’Brien set up goals for Maurie Young and Ingersoll which enabled Hawthorn to win by what, in the end, was the reasonably comfortable margin of 19 points.

Some reports listed Richmond ruckman and Brownlow medalist Roy Wright as best-on-ground, while Roy Simmonds was generally considered to be Hawthorn’s best player. One report commented:

Hawthorn half-back Roy Simmonds gave another of his lion-hearted displays against Richmond. He continually tore through fearlessly from the half back line to drive his side into attack. A fine high mark over big Roy Wright and a clearing dash during the last quarter which added a point to Hawthorn’s score highlighted a great performance by Simmonds.

Other good players were Yeoman, Alf Hughes, Don Gent, Allan Woodley and Falconer.

Player of the week – John O’Mahony

This week’s player profile is not of a player who had a particularly good game in Round 2, 1957. However, it is the last opportunity to consider John O’Mahony as, due to injury, he only played the first two games of the 1957 season.

One of the stalwarts of the club in the 1950s, the man known as ‘Bones’ thus missed out on playing in the club’s first ever Finals’ series. What made this particularly hard is that, after making his debut in Round 14, 1951, O’Mahony played 92, out of a possible 96 games, up to and including Round 2, 1957.

In Round 1, he had mishandled the ball and that fumble provided Carlton’s Ken Hands with the opportunity to come in and crunch into him. O’Mahony’s shoulder was sufficiently hurt for him to be temporarily shifted out of the centre in the third quarter of that game, but he then returned to the pivot to be one of the stars in the Hawks final term blitz which delivered the club’s second ever victory away to the Blues.

He received no treatment on his shoulder and joined coach, Jack Hale, for a short break in Lakes Entrance for a few days after the game.

At training on the Thursday night before the Richmond game, O’Mahony felt slightly out of breath and then really struggled to get into the game on the Saturday. His condition worsened on the Sunday and he contacted Club President, Dr Sandy Ferguson, who referred him to a specialist at the Royal Melbourne. The diagnosis was a slowly deflating lung. The initial procedure did not fix the problem, so more major surgery followed, which meant O’Mahony remained in hospital until early August. Throughout out his recovery, he was paid by his employer, the Commonwealth Bank but while that removed any financial worries he, of course, had the major concern that he was missing out on Hawthorn’s best ever season.

He had followed Hawthorn since, as a child, he had snuck out the back of the Glen Theatre to watch matches at Glenferrie Oval. As a player, he was recruited to Hawthorn from Camberwell YCW, a team for which he continued to appear on Sundays while playing with Hawthorn U19s and Reserves. Just as this column last week reported how Terry Ingersoll worked as a butcher on Saturday mornings, O’Mahony worked in the bank and had a taxi awaiting him when he finished his shift to transport him to the ground.

By Finals time in 1957, he was feeling well enough to not only attend training, but to put his hand up for selection. A testing training session, with Hale, quickly made him realise that he was not going to make it.

An interesting sidelight to O’Mahony’s two games in 1957 was that he received three Brownlow votes. Of course, prior to 1984, the votes for individual games were not disclosed, but O’Mahony is confident that he must have got the three votes in Round 1. He jokes that if the Brownlow was decided on average votes per game, he would have won the 1957 medal.

While the injury never caused him any subsequent distress, his career never returned to his former heights (which had seen him polling 11 Brownlow votes in 1956 and finishing second in the club best & fairest). Due to injuries and other factors, he managed just another 18 senior games in three seasons. After stints as player and coach at Heathmont, Glen Iris and St Kevin’s Old Boys, he returned to Hawthorn as assistant coach and chairman of selectors. He remains a keen supporter of the club.

Hawthorn 0.3 3.10 4.15 9.22.76Richmond 2.2 3.4 5.8 8.9.57Goals M. Young 2, Woodley, Ingersoll, Kaine, Falcolner, Yeoman, Kennedy, Arthur.Attendance 21,000Next week– Round 3, away to North Melbourne.