David Parkin’s fourth year as coach would be much like his third, injury-marred and ultimately disappointing. In all, 188 matches were missed by the senior list of 44 players through injury or suspension. David O’Halloran missed the entire year through injury, Peter Knights and Leon Rice were out for 15 matches each. Even Michael Tuck missed games, his run of 138 consecutive games, then a club record, coming to an end.
There were some very significant debuts. Colin Robertson was a highly sought-after, pacy on-baller from Tassie, who would play 116 games, including the 1983 Grand Final. Russell Greene was a utility who would play 184 games for Hawthorn after 120 for St Kilda. A wonderful clubman, he would captain Victoria and play in 3 Hawthorn Premierships. He was acquired in an exchange for fringe players Tony King and Mark Scott. Chris Mew (Teddy, BP) would play 230 games and quietly go about holding down CHB in 5 premiership sides. Peter Schwab debuted late in the season. He would play 171 games as a reliable centreman/small defender, playing in 3 premiership sides.
During the pre-season in the night series Hawthorn beat West Perth by 40 points and Melbourne by 31. The remainder of the (extended) night series was played during the season. However they lost their round 1 encounter with Richmond. Trailing by 3 goals at the last change, the Hawks came home with 7 goals in the final quarter but fell 5 points short of the Tigers. Three days later the Hawks played themselves into form, destroying East Fremantle by 105 points in the night series.
The form translated to the real stuff as Hawthorn won 6 of their next 7 games, beginning with a 33-point win over St Kilda. This was followed by a high-quality win over Collingwood by 11 points, 130 to 119. A narrow win over Fitzroy by 3 points (after kicking just 3 points in the last quarter) in round 4 saw the Hawks move up to 2nd on the ladder, but another loss by 5 points to Geelong slowed the progression.
The narrow margins continued as the Hawks downed Footscray by 17 points, then Carlton by just 2, and Melbourne by 10. At this point the Hawks were 6 and 2, but they would win just 4 of their last 14 games. The night series again set the tone as the club lost mid-week to Claremont of all teams, by 32 points. This was followed in round 9 by another 5 point loss, this time to North Melbourne. In a remarkable trend, only one of the Hawks 9 games thus far had been decided by more than 17 points, and all three losses had been by just 5 points.
That all changed in round 10 as South Melbourne belted the Hawks by 84 points in Hawthorn’s farewell to the Lakeside Oval. The plummet back down the ladder gathered speed with an 18-point loss to Essendon, followed by a 20-point loss to Richmond.
In round 13 the Hawks kicked their highest score for the year, 21.17 143, to beat St Kilda by 34 points. They equaled it the following round when they beat Fitzroy by 88, to scramble back up to 5th place. But the next week they kicked their lowest score for 5 years, 4.13 37, and lost to Geelong by 80 points. The rot set in, as the Hawks gave up any chance of playing in the finals, losing to Collingwood by 27 points, Footscray by 53 and Carlton by 44.
A 77-point win in round 19 over Melbourne halted the slide, but North the following week stitched up the Hawks by 56 points. Hawthorn ended South’s finals hopes at Waverley with a five goal win in round 21, before a 40-point loss to the Bombers ended a sorry 2nd half to the season. The Hawks wound up in 8th place, five wins shy of the finals.
In an unsatisfactory season, there were some positive achievements. Leigh Matthews came 6th in the Brownlow, and won his 7th best and fairest award. Promising big man Andy Bennett won the best first year player, but would only play 21 games over 5 years. Matthews, Kel Moore, Michael Moncrieff, Geoff Ablett, Rod Eade and Robert DiPierdomenico all played state footy, Matthews captaining Victoria against WA.
Triple premiership player Alan Martello quit the club and eventually made his way to Richmond where he played three seasons. 1978 premiership player Richard Walter also left.
In September David Parkin quit after finding out that Hawthorn were looking around at other possible coaches to replace him. He had coached 94 games for 57 wins (60.6%). Don Scott, heavily critical of Hawthorn’s handling of Parkin, resigned the captaincy – at the time he was the second longest serving captain. Scott put it down to his relationship with the players: “I’ve never been great socially, and I know that area’s vital… You build up a camaraderie and real feeling towards each other at social events, and it hasn’t been happening. That was showing on the field.” Matthews was the logical appointment. Peter Knights was made deputy. Parkin went to Carlton and immediately won back-to-back flags.
New President Ron Cook, charged with finding Parkin’s replacement, went after Allan Jeans, after Peter Hudson and Kevin Sheedy were considered. Even Scott and Matthews were canvassed about the job, but both indicated they weren’t ready to coach. Cook and John Kennedy Snr eventually persuaded the committee to offer the job to Jeans, who was then coaching the NSW state team. “We wanted someone who could get to the blokes, get to the fellows who were a bit disenchanted, a bit down,” Cook said. They chose the right bloke.
1980 - The Facts
Record: 10-12
Finished: 8 of 12
Highest score: 21.17.143 v St Kilda, Round 13 at Princes Park and 21.17.143 v Fitzroy, Round 14 at Princes Park
Lowest score: 4.13.47 v Geelong, Round 15 at VFL Park
Greatest Winning Margin: 88 points, 21.17.143 to Fitzroy 8.7.55, Round 14 at Princes Park
Greatest Losing Margin: 84 points, 14.15.99 to Sth Melbourne 28.15.183, Round 10 at Lakeside Oval
Longest Winning Streak: 3, Rounds 2 to 4 and rounds 6 to 8
Longest Losing Streak: 4, Rounds 9 to 12 and rounds 15 to 18
Coach: David Parkin
Captain: Don Scott
Club Champion: Leigh Matthews
Most Brownlow votes: Leigh Matthews, 16
Leading goalkicker: Michael Moncrieff, 86
President: Ron Cook
Secretary/CEO: Becker, P.J
Debutantes
Andrew Bennett
Dale Foster
Russell Greene
Robert Mace
Chris Mew
Colin Robertson
Peter Schwab