12th placed Fremantle take on 13th placed Hawthorn at Domain Stadium on Saturday night.

Here are some of the key stats and stories heading into the game.

Bucking a trend

This week poses as one of Fremantle’s best chances to get a win against a side that has held the upper hand in recent times.

Fremantle has won one game against the Hawks in their past 10 meetings, at Domain Stadium in round 21, 2014.

Only three of these clashes have been in WA, with four played at Aurora Stadium in Launceston and three at the MCG. Hawthorn have been more vulnerable at Domain, winning two of their past five games at the ground.

It’s all up-Hill

Wingman Bradley Hill is putting up career best numbers since his arrival at Fremantle from Hawthorn.

Hill is averaging more than 125 metres gained more per game for Freo than in his time at the Hawks, as well as six more disposals and 13 more ranking points per game.

Bradley Hill's numbers have jumped since his arrival at Fremantle in 2017







Bogeymen elsewhere

In round one, Hawthorn fielded the oldest side in the competition with an average age of 27.58, while Fremantle fielded the third oldest side at 26.44.

Since then, both teams have taken on a youth focus. Fremantle’s round 17 side was the second youngest in the competition at 24.42 years, while Hawthorn fielded the 7th oldest side with an average age of 25.52.

Rebuilding sides

Saturday will be Freo’s first clash with Hawthorn since the Hawks traded Sam Mitchell to West Coast and Jordan Lewis to Melbourne.

Mitchell and Lewis have dominated in recent clashes with Freo, with one of pair leading the possession stats in four of the past five games.

Most recently, in round 8, 2016, it was Lachie Neale that tallied the most disposals with 38, while Mitchell and Lewis were among the Hawks top-three ball winners with 26 and 25 disposals respectively.

A form side?

The Hawks head west with confidence after navigating one of the toughest stretches of their season, with strong performances against the AFL’s top three sides in the past four weeks.

Instead of succumbing to their more favoured opponents, Hawthorn emerged with six premiership points from a possible 12 against Adelaide, GWS and Geelong.

It could have easily been a clean sweep for the Hawks. The siren thwarted a last-second rushed behind that would have won the game against GWS and co-vice captain Isaac Smith missed a shot on goal in the dying seconds as Hawthorn went down by three points to Geelong.

New Hawks, same Hawks

Hawthorn’s three-peat from 2013-2015 was built on dictating play and winning the uncontested ball. Despite fielding a younger different side in 2017, Alastair Clarkson’s team is performing well under a similar model.

Hawthorn led the AFL for disposals and uncontested possessions in 2014 and 2015, breaking away from the theory that winning the uncontested ball was necessary for success.

This has also been the case in the past four rounds, with Hawthorn recording the most disposals and uncontested possessions since round 14 while sitting seventh for contested possessions.

Hawthorns performances from rounds 14-17 compare favourably to their premiership years





300 for Clarko

Saturday’s game pits the AFL’s third and fourth most experienced current coaches in Clarkson (299 games) and Ross Lyon (236 games).

Hawthorn will celebrate the 300th game coached by Clarkson on the day, becomming the Hawks’ most experienced coach of all time, passing John Kennedy Snr, who coached 299 games between 1957 and 1976.