On Sunday against Richmond, Shaun Burgoyne and Wayde Skipper joined Round 1 debutants, Josh Gibson and Rhan Hooper, in this category.
In Hawthorn’s first 15 years in the VFL, having four or more players from other clubs shift into the brown and gold was commonplace, however, from the 1940s onwards, it became rare. Before 2010, it had only happened in 1950, 1996 and 1997. In the most recent previous occasion, 1997, the four players were Justin Crawford, Jon Hassall, Aaron Lord and Todd Ridley.
Hawthorn’s win on Sunday maintained a recent good record in games decided by six points or fewer. The Hawks have won five of the last seven in that category, the most recent blemish being the one point loss to Geelong in Round 17 last season.
Overall, in games decided by six points or fewer, Hawthorn has won 97 and lost 100, with nine draws.
Hawthorn’s most recent three point win before Sunday was against Adelaide in the 2007 Elimination Final at Docklands, a game in which Lance Franklin kicked the winning goal with just seconds left on the clock.
Hawthorn has won 11 of its past 13 matches against this week’s opponent, Carlton, a sequence stretching back to the start of the 2001 season. The only comparable period of success against Carlton was from 1984 to 1987, when the Hawks beat the Blues in 10 out of 11 meetings, including the record winning sequence of seven.
The current sequence of six consecutive wins in a row began with a 23 point win (2005), was followed by 32 and 24 point wins (2006), a 100 point thrashing in 2007, a 78 point win in Round 22, 2008 and a four point thriller in Round 6 last season.
The two losses in the past 13 were at Docklands in 2004 and 2005 in the first two meetings of the clubs at the venue, although the Hawks have now won the last three against the Blues there. This will be the first time the two clubs have played in the daytime at the venue.
Playing just once in the home and away season has become the recent pattern between the two clubs, with 2006 being the only season since 2003 when the two clubs have been drawn to play twice in the one season.
The Hawthorn team on Sunday included the rare feature of three players sharing the same birthday. Wayde Skipper (1983), Beau Muston (1987) and Ben Stratton (1989) were all born on 1 March, which puts them all in good company. 1 March was, in 1952, the birth date of Leigh Matthews.
Both 50 and 40 years ago the Hawks continued their revivals after poor starts to the season.
50 years ago, in Round 9 1960, the 9th 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.
40 years ago, in Round 9 1970, the last placed Hawks travelled to Princes Park to play the fourth placed (and eventual Premiers) Carlton. A 5.8 to 1.1 opening term set up the Hawthorn win which was by the eventual margin of 32 points. Peter Hudson booted six and Bob Keddie three. Let’s hope the 14th placed Hawks can achieve a similar feat against the fifth placed Blues in 2010.
Imagine the scenario facing Hawthorn 20 years ago this round. You are playing the top side and you trail by 14 points at quarter time. More significantly, your champion full forward and centre-half forward have both been injured and can take no further part in the game. Another champion becomes almost immobile in the third quarter. A loss seems inevitable, or is it?
Despite having won the previous two Premierships, Hawthorn went into Round 9, 1990 on the back of an indifferent 5 - 3 record. In contrast, opponents Melbourne had progressed confidently to 7 - 1 and top spot on the ladder. This was surely an opportunity for Melbourne to extract some revenge for their defeats in the 1987 Preliminary Final and 1988 Grand Final.
On a very grey Saturday afternoon, 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 accidently kneed in the head by Melbourne’s Spalding. Also injured in the first term 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. John Platten, who had been down on form in recent matches, looked revitalised, especially after he discarded a knee brace he had been wearing.
Still for all the hard work in defence and midfield 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 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. Hawthorn were about to kill them off.
It may have been grey, and it may have started to rain, but Hawthorn was on fire. In a classic piece of roving, 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 win.
The following week’s Football Record only recorded three players in the “best” for Melbourne, as opposed to ten for Hawthorn. The 10 were Collins, Pritchard, Cooper, Platten, Ayres, Condon, Tuck, P. Dear, Dipierdomenico and Anderson. The other eight were not bad either. All 18 players who remained after quarter time had played their hearts out and produced a famous triumph against all the odds.
Hawthorn has played 85 matches in Round 9 for 38 wins and 47 defeats. The Club has recorded wins in the past three Round 9s, beating West Coast in Launceston in 2007 and Melbourne at the MCG in both 2008 and 2009.
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 - in 1968, 1978 and 1989 respectively. The best individual tallies for Hawthorn against the Blues are nine by Peter Knights in 1985 and eight by Garry Young (in a losing side) in 1959.
Hudson holds the Round 9 record and has done so for the past 42 years. He booted 10, in a 30 point victory over Fitzroy at Glenferrie, in this round in 1968.
