His five predecessors are Michael Tuck (426 games), Leigh Matthews (332), Chris Langford (303), Don Scott (302) and Kelvin Moore (300).
Crawford’s achievement will put Hawthorn back in equal top place for clubs producing 300 gamers, a position it held outright until 2006. The Western Bulldogs went from three to five in 2006 and then took the lead when Brad Johnson became that club’s sixth 300-gamer in Round 1 this year. Carlton, Essendon and St Kilda share equal third with four 300-gamers. Of the 54 VFL-AFL 300 gamers, 37 reached the milestone at one club, while 17 did so at two or more clubs.
There are two Hawthorn players who have reached 300 games through a combination of games at Hawthorn and other clubs - Russell Greene 304 games (120 at St Kilda, 184 at Hawthorn) and Paul Salmon 324 (224 at Essendon, 100 at Hawthorn).
There is a problem with discussing the games in which players reached 300 games. For many years the VFL included in players’ games tallies state games played on the same day as a home and away round. This affected both Leigh Matthews and Kelvin Moore who, after their careers ended, had their games tallies reduced by eight and one respectively.
Thus, while Matthews’ 300th was celebrated in Round 5, 1984, history says he did not play it until Round 13 of that season. Moore’s 300th was celebrated in Round 21 of that same season when, in fact, it was the following week. In Moore’s case, it was fortuitous he was given another game, as it proved to be his last, and, if he had not played it, would have ended his career on 299.
Hawthorn won both Moore’s celebrated and actual 300th but, while the Hawks won on the day Matthews’ 300th was celebrated, they lost on what history says was the actual occasion. The Hawks also won the 300th games of Scott (Round 20, 1981) and Tuck (Round 13, 1986) against St Kilda and North Melbourne respectively, but lost Chris Langford’s 300th against West Coast in Round 19, 1997.
Both Greene and Salmon played their 300th VFL-AFL games at Hawthorn, the former in a winning side against Geelong in 1988 and the latter in a losing team versus Melbourne in 2000.
Stephen Gilham scored his second goal for Hawthorn in the third quarter of last Friday night’s Round 18 game. In a remarkable coincidence, it came exactly a year after his first. Both Gilham’s goals have been kicked in the third quarter of Round 18 and both were kicked at the MCG. The only difference was the opponent – Essendon in 2007 and Collingwood in 2008.
Gilham’s goal was Hawthorn’s 22,001st League goal. The honour of scoring the 22,000th went to Jarryd Roughead.
This round marks the 25th anniversary of the last instance of an individual making his debut for Hawthorn, having played for another club earlier in the season. The player concerned was Grant Fowler who having played 7 games for Essendon in early 1983 and then made his debut against his former club in Round 19. His former team were victorious. He was the last of 18 players who appeared for Hawthorn after playing for another club earlier in the year, while 11 players played for Hawthorn and then bobbed up elsewhere in the same season.
Brisbane Lions will become the ninth different opponent Hawthorn has played at Aurora Stadium. The Hawks won their first Launceston matches against six of the eight other opponents - Adelaide (2001), Fremantle (2002), West Coast (2003), Richmond (2006), North Melbourne (2006) and Geelong (2007). The only debut meeting defeats were against Port Adelaide (2002) and Western Bulldogs (2008). Hawthorn’s overall Aurora Stadium record is 12 wins and 7 losses.
The Hawks overall record versus Brisbane is 21 victories and 15 defeats. The Lions won 10 of the 11 encounters between 2001 and early 2007, but the Hawks have won the past two encounters by 24 points at the MCG in Round 19 last season and by 12 points at Gabba in Round 5 this year.
There was a Round 19 played from 1945 to 1949 (to make up for games missed during the War) and again in 1952 (to compensate for the propaganda round). However, it did not become a permanent fixture until 1968. Overall, Hawthorn has won 25 and lost 20 of its matches in this round. In recent seasons, Round 19 has been by one of Hawthorn’s best rounds, with the team winning six of its last seven and eight out of the last ten.
Jason Dunstall holds the individual goal-kicking records both against Brisbane and for Round 19. He booted 11 against Brisbane in the first meeting between the two clubs in 1987, while he set the Round 19 record in 1996, when he kicked 14 against Footscray at Waverley on a Saturday night.
