The most impenetrable fortress in AFL history awaits Carlton next Sunday when it visits Launceston for just the second time in a home and away season.
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With 46 wins, a draw and 13 losses in 60 matches, Hawthorn has a better record in Launceston than any other team who has played 50 or more matches at a venue.
The Hawks' 77.50 per cent winning record betters West Coast's at the WACA (75.93) and stems from a run of 19 straight wins at the ground between round five, 2012, and round 6, 2017.
With the help of UTAS Stadium's top goalkicker Jarryd Roughead (101 goals in 43 games), we've looked back on five of the Hawks' best games in Launceston.
CRAWF'S 300TH
SYNOPSIS: Lance Franklin kicks six as Shane Crawford caps 300th game with a win and last-term goal.
ROUGHY SAYS: It's the first time I got to play in someone's 300th, a guy that you used to grow up watching as a footy fan, a legend of the footy club. I think in the end Rick Ladson squared a ball up to Crawf and he managed to kick a goal in the last quarter which was pretty cool and everyone ran to him and got around him. I think memories like that are pretty cool knowing that we won but also he was able to kick a goal in his 300th.
SCOREBOARD:
Hawks 1.3 3.7 7.11 16.14 (110)
Lions 1.2 1.5 2.10 5.11 (41)
GOALS Hawthorn: Franklin 6, Rioli 3, Stokes 2, Lewis 2, Roughead, Crawford, Dew.
Brisbane Lions: Bradshaw 2, Brown, Sherman, Brennan.
BEST Hawthorn: Franklin, Hodge, Crawford, Rioli, Mitchell, Lewis, Ellis.
Brisbane Lions: Rischitelli, Power, Johnstone, Black, Brennan.
Round 19, 2008. Crowd: 19,929
THIRTEEEEEN!
SYNOPSIS: Lance Franklin had zero goals to the quarter-time siren but finished with the biggest bag since Scott Cummings' 14 in 2000.
ROUGHY SAYS: We got flogged by Geelong the week before and it was a bit of a kick up the bum that we needed. North were the team that we played next and I think you saw we won by well over 100 points.
That last quarter where he's organising goals ... that one he kicks where Lewy jumps up and taps it to him was pretty awesome and then obviously on the siren when he gets that ball and snaps it for 13... guys don't kick those bags of goals any more so some of them are history-defining games really, so it's pretty cool that they were in Tassie as well.
SCOREBOARD:
Hawks 5.2 12.5 20.10 27.12 (174)
Kangaroos 4.1 6.4 7.4 9.5 (59)
GOALS Hawthorn: Franklin 13, Breust 3, Young 2, Lewis 2, Rioli 2, Puopolo 2, Roughead, Smith, Hale
Kangaroos: Wright 3, Edwards, Atley, Adams, Petrie, Wells, Swallow
BEST Hawthorn: Franklin, Mitchell, Birchall, Sewell, Puopolo, Hale
Kangaroos: Wells, Grima, Wright, Adams
Round 10, 2012. Crowd: 16,143
FULL HOUSE
SYNOPSIS: A Hawks side missing star quartet Shane Crawford, Peter Everitt, Trent Croad and Richie Vandenberg ended a six-game losing streak in front of a record crowd of 20,971. Grant Birchall kicked his first AFL goal in his second match at the ground, while Lance Franklin announced himself to Launceston fans with six goals.
ROUGHY SAYS: I reckon we'd come off the bye and again we were tipped to lose and I think we won by over 40 points. I think that was the start of seeing what Bud was able to do - I think it was maybe one of the first times he kicked six. We were compared to Richmond a lot because obviously we were at the bottom of the ladder at the end of '04 and there were draft picks spoken about between both sides. It was one that Bud came to the life of AFL fans. He hadn't much of a crack early in the first half of the year with a broken foot and a couple of misdemeanours but to beat them down there with a record crowd [was big].
SCOREBOARD:
Hawthorn 2.3 5.7 12.10 16.15 (111)
Richmond 1.4 3.9 5.11 8.16 (64)
GOALS Hawthorn: Franklin 6, Dixon 3, Brennan 2, Birchall, Campbell, Clarke, Lewis, Williams
Richmond: Pettifer 3, Simmonds 2, Brown, Meyer, Tambling
BEST Hawthorn: Ladson, Franklin, Clarke, Mitchell, Lewis, Young, Brown, Birchall
Richmond: Simmonds, Pettifer, Deledio, Johnson
Round 12, 2006. Crowd: 20971
ROUGHY'S EIGHT
SYNOPSIS: Jarryd Roughead enjoyed his best day in Launceston with eight goals while young ruck Luke Lowden kicked three on debut.
ROUGHY SAYS: It's funny cos it was Darren Glass' last game for West Coast and now he's an assistant at our footy club. I think it'll be remembered for Lowden's first and only game of AFL. We had all our ruckmen out, he comes in and plays against arguably the best combination of Naitanui and Cox - two of the best ruckmen ever - and he kicks three. It showed the depth of our squad at the time - when you have two of your main ruckmen go out then you play a guy like this. From a personal point of view to be able to get on the end of a few is nice. I've been able to kick a couple of bags down in Tassie and I've nearly played there 50 times and kicked close to 100 goals so it's nice to have a home away from home.
SCOREBOARD:
Hawthorn 3.4 10.6 16.7 19.9 (123)
West Coast 4.4 7.5 8.7 12.7 (79)
GOALS Hawthorn: Roughead 8, Gunston 3, Lowden 3, Breust, Suckling, Hodge, Rioli, Smith
West Coast: Gaff 3, Ellis 2, McGovern 2, LeCras, Masten, Naitanui, Hurn, Darling
BEST Hawthorn: Roughead, Hodge, Smith, Lewis, Spangher
West Coast: Priddis, McGovern, Gaff, Hutchings, Shuey
Round 12, 2014. Crowd: 15,504
LANGFORD IN LATE
SYNOPSIS: GWS became the first team since Carlton in 1921 to record two draws in a row. After Will Langford levelled the scores with 12 seconds to go, the Hawks rushed the ball forward but Ryan Burton's punched behind came just after the siren.
ROUGHY SAYS: The Giants were coming off a draw the previous week and they were top of the ladder, it's 2017 and we're fighting for our finals chances. I think we're up for a majority of the game until a patch in the third quarter. It gets to the last stage and Will Langford kicks one that bounces like a wrong 'un in cricket really. Heath Shaw is on the goal line doing everything right by them, but just the way that Langers kicks it, it bounces over his head and saves us for a draw.
SCOREBOARD: