kneecapped

Hawthorn vs Geelong – a 20 year snapshot – a gem from the hawk headquarters forums, posting here so Figgy will always know where to find it in times of need.

Starting from 1989…..

In Round 6, 1989, Geelong kicked a mammoth 25.13.163 against league leaders Hawthorn. But they still didn’t win the game, going down to a score of 26.15.171. At half time, Geelong had a lead of 49 points, but squandered it – this deficit is still the biggest half time comeback in Hawthorn’s history.

Geelong’s score is still the highest losing total of any team in the history of football.

Later that year, on the biggest stage of all, Geelong kicked 21.12.138 and got beaten by 6 points to a wounded Hawthorn side.

In 1991, Geelong played Hawthorn in the second semi final. After leading by 1 point at the last change, Geelong went down by less than a kick.

Hawthorn went on to win the Grand Final while Geelong had an early holiday after losing to West Coast in the Preliminary Final.

Between 1995 and 2000, Geelong and Hawthorn met ten times. Of those ten, Hawthorn won five games by less than a goal – four of those games were in front of the Cat faithful at Kardinia Park. Hawthorn and Geelong met in an Elimination Final in 2000, their first finals clash in nine years, of which the Hawks won by 9 points at the Docklands.

Geelong finished above Hawthorn in 5 of those six seasons, including twice finishing in the top two. Hawthorn’s highest finish was 8th, in 1996 and 1999.

Still, Geelong only beat Hawthorn twice in those ten games.

In Round 3, 2006, Geelong and Hawthorn met at Kardinia Park. The weeks prior, Geelong had thumped Brisbane and the Kangaroos and were sitting atop the ladder. They were the talk of town and entered Round 3 as the new premiership favourites. The Hawks, on the other hand, were badly beaten by Collingwood in Round 2 and faced a significant battle to keep the finals hopes alive.

Geelong started raging hot favourites at $1.10, but as was the way, 24,000 confident and excited Geelong fans watched on as the Hawks crushed their way to a 52 point victory.

Geelong were unsuccessful in 11 of their next 19 games and finished the season in tenth position – their final game for the season was a 10 goal thumping by a weak Hawthorn team.

In 2007, Geelong met Hawthorn at York Park after a good start to the season. It was a close affair all day, with the Hawks just getting home by 4 points.
Geelong went on to dominate the competition for the rest of the season and win their first flag since 1963. Hearty congratulations to Geelong.

In 2008, Geelong went searching for back to back premierships and lost just one game for the season. They beat Hawthorn by 11 points in Round 17, and were deserved 4/9on favourites to win the Grand Final. 100,000 people turned up to watch the most anticipated Grand Final in modern history, expecting Geelong go back-to-back for the first time in ages, after such a dominant season.

But after Geelong missed several opportunities in front of goal in the first half, Hawthorn ran away with the game in the second half, winning by 26 points and claiming their first premiership since 1991.

Round 1 of 2009 will see Hawthorn meet Geelong in a season opener. Hawthorn will unfurl their premiership flag in front of 85,000 + people, mostly Geelong fans, back for their next course. The rest will be another chapter in this epic and ongoing story.

Here’s to the next twenty years!