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Jack Gunston will this week play his 300th VFL-AFL game and will thus join Russell Greene, Paul Salmon and Shaun Burgoyne as players who reached this milestone at Hawthorn after beginning their careers elsewhere. Both Greene and Burgoyne marked their milestones with victories - Greene in 1988 against Geelong and Burgoyne in 2016 with a narrow victory against Adelaide. Salmon had a much less happy day in 2000, with the Hawks copping a 69-point thrashing from Melbounre. This round will also see former Hawk, Brad Hill reach 300 VFL-AFL games. He joins Lance Franklin and Jordan Lewis as players to have reached the 300-game milestone after departing Hawthorn. The scenario of needing to win the final game of the home and away season to secure a top four place has been a common occurrence for Hawthorn in the past decade. In 2016 and 2018, narrow victories against Collingwood and Sydney saw the Hawks maintain third and fourth respectively. Last season, Hawthorn’s top four hopes were extinguished by a 10-point loss to Brisbane Lions which saw a slip to eighth. Max Beattie has become the fifth player to make his Hawthorn debut in a draw. The previous instances were Bert Amey and Ken Lippiatt (both 1944), Rochford Devenish-Meares (1968) and Paul Salmon (1996). Beattie is also the first individual born on 18 November to play for Hawthorn. This leaves 30 dates without any of Hawthorn’s 985 VFL-AFL being born on them. At the other extreme, there have been nine Hawthorn players born on 31 May. Beattie’s debut also meant that the number 40 has been worn by two different Hawthorn players in season 2026 after Flynn Perez wore it on Easter Monday when the guernsey with his own number 39 was not available. While this is extremely rare in modern times, it was quite common until the early 1980s. For instance, in 1980, Terry Moore wore number 33 for most of the season but then moved to number 28, which allowed Dale Foster to be promoted from number 53 to 33. In 1978, Kelvin Matthews wore number 4 until departing for Geelong, with Peter Russo moving to it by his Round 15 debut. In 1973, Gerry McCarthy wore number 26 until Peter Hudson reclaimed it upon his late season return. Draws have become much more common this decade for Hawthorn with four already, two in 2021 and two in 2026. Previously, the most in any decade was two. And for those looking for omens, Hawthorn has a 7-7 record in matches after the previous 14 draws. However, with a draw in the final round of 2021, one of the wins was in Round 1 the following season, so it is 6-7 in post-draw matches in the same season. Hawthorn has now used 40 players in 2026, the equal highest number in the past 80 years. Since using 42 players in 1946, there have been four seasons when 40 players have been used - 1965, 1967, 2020 and 2026. The nine AFL debutants and one club debutant in 2026 is the most in a season since there were 10 AFL debutants and one club debutant in 2005. Hawthorn holds a 2-1 advantage in games against West Coast at Optus Stadium, having defeated the Eagles there in 2019 and 2024, but lost in 2020. Overall, Hawthorn and West Coast have played 58 times, with the Hawks winning 28 and losing 30. The Hawks have won the past four encounters, by 25 points at the MCG (2022); by a massive 116 points at University of Tasmania Stadium (2023); by 61 points at Perth Stadium (2024) and by 50 points at Docklands last season. Jacqueline Dupuy’s impressive first AFLW game for Hawthorn saw her equal the club games tally of her grandfather, Geoff Dupuy, who made one Senior appearance for the Hawks against South Melbourne in 1957. However, the Dupuy family’s Hawthorn roots go deeper as Geoff’s wife and Jaqueline’s grandmother, Jill, was the daughter of George Ewenson, a man with very strong Hawthorn connections, including being a partner in Deering’s Bakery in Camberwell with Gil Hendrie, who had been a member of Hawthorn’s inaugural League team in 1925 and whose grandson John played in two Hawthorn Premierships in the 1970s. This week the Hawthorn AFLW team plays Port Adelaide for the fifth time, its most games against any opponent. Thus far, the record is 2-2 with Hawthorn having won home games at Frankston in 2022 and 2023 but having lost a Semi Final at Princes Park in 2024 and at Alberton last season. With North Melbourne now out of Finals’ contention, it is confirmed that 2026 will be 19th consecutive season when Hawthorn has finished above the Kangaroos. This now becomes the outright second-best streak against any opposition club, relegating to third the 18 consecutive seasons above St Kilda from 1974 to 1991. There is still a little way to go to reach number one which is 22 consecutive seasons from 1968 to 1989 finishing higher than Melbourne. Hawthorn’s last five games on this week’s game date, 23 August, have seen three wins against Geelong and two losses to North Melbourne. The most memorable of the wins was exactly 40 years ago, on 23 August 1986 when Hawthorn led Geelong by three points at half-time, 10.8 to 10.5. In the second half Hawthorn added an incredible 25.7 to 3.7 to win by 135 points – 35.15.225 to 13.12.90. Hawthorn has a 5-2 record from seven Round 24 games. The Hawks’ victories include some big margins, with an 80-point win against Essendon at Waverley in 1991 and a 124-point thrashing of North Melbourne at University of Tasmania Stadium in 2024. Jarryd Roughead set a new club record of eight goals against West Coast in Launceston in 2014, passing Jason Dunstall, who had kicked seven against the Eagles in both 1988 and 1989. Dunstall still holds the Round 24 record with six against Melbourne in 1992.