Fans at the Docklands stadium last Friday night saw the closest game in VFL-AFL history.
The margins at the breaks of one, one, zero and zero produced an aggregate of two which smashed the previous record of five, which also came in a game involving Hawthorn - against South Melbourne in 1956 (when margins were zero, three, two and zero).
There had only been two other League games where the aggregate was six, one of which oddly was also in 1956 (Carl v StK) and the other was in 2000 (Syd v Coll). It should be noted that there have been games which have remained closer throughout the whole game (i.e. not just at the breaks) than the 14 point margin by which Hawthorn led early in the final term last Friday.
The draw with St Kilda was just the 10th in Hawthorn’s history and it was the first the Hawks had played in since Round 11 1999, when Hawthorn 11.10.76 drew Western Bulldogs 10.16.76.
St Kilda joins North Melbourne, South Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs as teams against which the Hawks have had two draws, leaving just North Melbourne and Geelong in the solitary draw category.
The incident on the interchange bench on Friday night was not the first time that officialdom has contributed to turning a Hawthorn win into a draw.
Hawthorn’s first draw, in Round 13 1926, ended in a similar fashion to the 2006 St Kilda v Fremantle game. Hawthorn led by a point as the bell sounded to signal the end of the game. At that moment, Gerry Donnelly of North was in possession and The Age reported that “as he was running the bell tolled, but play went on, the umpire and players being ignorant of the fact”. Donnelly kicked a behind that tied the scores. It was only after the all clear was given that the umpire heard the bell and signalled full time. The failure to hear the bell cannot be put down to bias, as umpire Wilkinson had favoured Hawthorn in the free kick count 63-51, the total of 114 frees being unimaginable to modern football fans.
Some members of the crowd, having heard the bell, left the ground thinking Hawthorn had won and would not have learnt much from some of the media coverage as neither The Sun nor Sporting Globe mentioning the controversial finish in their match reports.
It was a game Hawthorn should have won, leading by 13 points at three quarter time
and still being seven points in front with two minutes to go. Overall the Mayblooms had the ball in the forward line more often than North but failed to convert. Fred Finch, Clarrie Lethlean and Pat Burke each kicked two, and all three were considered to be in the best players along with Dick Logan, ‘Tich’ Utting and Jim McCashney. Also like last Friday night, the state of the ground was an issue with the centre of Glenferrie being described as “a quagmire of black sticky mud”.
Hawthorn’s one previous draw against St Kilda came during the Second World War, in Round 15 1944, when both teams kicked 12.16.88, just one point fewer than Friday night’s 87 apiece. Where the 2010 game was close all night, the 1944 encounter saw Hawthorn with handy leads of 11, 13 and 14 at the changes, before the Saints finished strongly to level the scores at the end.
In that 1944 game, Jack King kicked 4 goals for the Hawks, while Wally Culpitt and Ken Slater each contributed three majors. King was in the middle of the highest goal-scoring burst of his career, as he kicked 20 goals in the last five games of the 1944 season, including a bag of seven in Round 17 against North Melbourne. These 20 goals made up more his career tally of 37 from 69 games.
Hawthorn has now had five games decided by six points or fewer in 2010 (three wins, one draw and one loss). Two more close results would equal the Club record of seven (four wins, one draw and two losses) set in 1999, while occasions when there were six were 1931, 1954, 1959 and 2001. Other seasons with five were 1978, 1980, 1995 and 2003.
The crowd of 49,373 last Friday night was easily a new record for home and away games between the Hawks and Saints. The previous record was 43,181 recorded at Waverley in Round 16, 1997, a game Hawthorn lost by 79 points.
It is the second time this month that Hawthorn has recorded a new record attendance versus a rival Victorian club, with the Round 14 crowd of 47,454 being a record for home and away games between the Hawks and the Bulldogs. The new record against St Kilda means that the lowest record is now versus the Bulldogs, narrowly behind the one against North Melbourne (47,705 at the MCG in 1993).
This round marks the 80th anniversary of one of the most famous wins in Hawthorn’s early VFL history. The final round of the home and away season was played on what seems to modern eyes the late date of 13 September (the Grand Final was on 11 October). The 10th placed Mayblooms were given little chance against a Melbourne side that needed a win to secure its spot in the Final Four. With Keith Sharpley kicking four and Leo Murphy three, the Glenferrie Oval crowd saw a stunning 13 point upset win - 12.18.90 to 10.17.77. It tipped Melbourne out of the Finals and capped off a much improved season for Hawthorn under new captain-coach ‘Jiggy’ Harris, with the six wins clearly the best return from the Club’s six VFL seasons to date.
70 years ago, in Round 18 1940, 10th placed Hawthorn thrashed 7th placed Fitzroy at Glenferrie by 56 points, with Jim Bohan starring with eight goals. It was only the seventh win of the Mayblooms’ season, but the year had produced some major highlights. A record score (25.11.161) and winning margin (72 points), plus the first 10 goal haul (by Alec Albiston) in the club’s history in Round 1; and first ever away wins at Princes Park, Carlton and Punt Road, Richmond.
50 years ago, in Round 18 1960, Hawthorn comfortably accounted for Geelong at Kardinia Park by 33 points. Morton Browne kicked four goals and John Peck three. After a disastrous 0-5 start under new coach John Kennedy, the Hawks had won 11 of the remaining 13 games, including the last six straight, on the way recording wins over both the eventual Grand Finalists - Melbourne and Collingwood. Hawthorn finished level on 44 points with Collingwood, but missed out on a spot in the Final Four by 9.6 per cent.
20 years ago, in Round 18 1990, the 5th placed Hawks consolidated their spot in the Five by winning a high-standard Friday night encounter with 7th placed North Melbourne by 10 points. A crowd of 44,627 attended a slightly unfamiliar looking MCG, with the Southern Stand roofless in preparation for its post-season demolition. The Hawks led at every change before winning 15.18.108 to 14.14.98. Jason Dunstall booted 4 goals and Dermott Brereton 3, while Dean Anderson’s 24 disposal game saw him awarded the three Brownlow votes.
Hawthorn has won just two of nine ‘away’ games against Port Adelaide, the victories coming in 2000 and 2007. The Hawks also beat Port in a Final at Football Park in 2001. Last season the Hawks played Port Adelaide at Football Park in Round 18, losing by 18 points. In all games, the Hawks trail the Power 7-14, a record improved slightly by the 11 point win at the MCG in Round 11 this season.
Hawthorn has played 82 Round 18 matches (there were no Round 18’s in 1925, 1942 or 1943) for the poor return of 32 wins and 50 defeats. The two worst sequences of Round 18 defeats was 12 from 1944 to 1955 and 6 from 2001 to 2006. The latter was mercifully ended by a 63 point win over Essendon at the MCG in 2007, followed by a 54 win over Collingwood in 2008. The losses returned last season with that loss to Port Adelaide.
The record individual goals record by a Hawthorn player in Round 18 is a tally of nine, kicked by Peter Hudson in 1970. His nine came out of a team total of only 11, as the Hawks lost to St Kilda at Glenferrie by 25 points. The previous highest before Hudson had come 30 years earlier when Jim Bohan kicked eight in 1940 (see above). No Hawthorn player has got more than six goals against Port Adelaide, that tally being achieved by three players - Aaron Lord (1997), Trent Croad (2000) and Lance Franklin (2008).
Acknowledgement - Thanks to ‘Footystats’ website for some of the information re Cliffhanger games in the VFL-AFL.
