# 1972 Hawthorn Football Club season

The 1972 season was the Hawthorn Football Club's 48th season in the Victorian Football League and 71st overall. Hawthorn entered the season as the defending VFL Premiers.

## Fixture
### Premiership season

| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Hawthorn's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Hawthorn's scores indicated in bold) | Scores (Hawthorn's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance | Record |
| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Result | Venue | Attendance | Record |
| 1 | Saturday, 1 April (2:10 pm) | Melbourne | 15.14 (104) | 10.15 (75) | Won by 29 points | Glenferrie Oval (H) | 21,513 | 1–0 |
| 2 | Saturday, 8 April (2:10 pm) | North Melbourne | 11.10 (76) | 19.24 (138) | Won by 62 points | Arden Street Oval (A) | 10,200 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Saturday, 15 April (2:10 pm) | Geelong | 9.11 (65) | 15.17 (107) | Won by 42 points | VFL Park (A) | 16,431 | 3–0 |
| 4 | Saturday, 22 April (2:10 pm) | Fitzroy | 11.17 (83) | 9.10 (64) | Lost by 19 points | Junction Oval (A) | 16,397 | 3–1 |
| 5 | Saturday, 29 April (2:10 pm) | Footscray | 14.20 (104) | 11.10 (76) | Won by 28 points | Glenferrie Oval (H) | 15,440 | 4–1 |
| 6 | Saturday, 6 May (2:10 pm) | Collingwood | 14.12 (96) | 15.11 (101) | Won by 5 points | Victoria Park (A) | 29,885 | 5–1 |
| 7 | Saturday, 13 May (2:10 pm) | South Melbourne | 13.14 (92) | 9.20 (74) | Won by 18 points | Glenferrie Oval (H) | 13,727 | 6–1 |
| 8 | Saturday, 20 May (2:10 pm) | Richmond | 11.25 (91) | 13.6 (84) | Lost by 7 points | VFL Park (A) | 25,661 | 6–2 |
| 9 | Saturday, 27 May (2:10 pm) | Essendon | 15.17 (107) | 14.21 (105) | Lost by 2 points | Windy Hill (A) | 28,187 | 6–3 |
| 10 | Saturday, 3 June (2:10 pm) | Carlton | 11.22 (88) | 13.7 (85) | Won by 3 points | Glenferrie Oval (H) | 26,585 | 7–3 |
| 11 | Saturday, 10 June (2:10 pm) | St Kilda | 17.8 (110) | 7.14 (56) | Lost by 54 points | Moorabbin Oval (A) | 27,313 | 7–4 |
| 12 | Saturday, 17 June (2:10 pm) | Melbourne | 11.10 (76) | 11.9 (75) | Lost by 1 point | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | 31,314 | 7–5 |
| 13 | Saturday, 1 July (2:10 pm) | North Melbourne | 21.14 (140) | 10.16 (76) | Won by 64 points | Glenferrie Oval (H) | 8,206 | 8–5 |
| 14 | Saturday, 8 July (2:10 pm) | Fitzroy | 19.19 (133) | 12.8 (80) | Won by 53 points | Glenferrie Oval (H) | 12,375 | 9–5 |
| 15 | Saturday, 15 July (2:10 pm) | Geelong | 19.14 (128) | 15.8 (98) | Won by 30 points | Glenferrie Oval (H) | 16,844 | 10–5 |
| 16 | Saturday, 22 July (2:10 pm) | Footscray | 13.11 (89) | 19.16 (130) | Won by 41 points | Western Oval (A) | 18,400 | 11–5 |
| 17 | Saturday, 29 July (2:10 pm) | Collingwood | 11.16 (82) | 19.13 (127) | Lost by 45 points | Glenferrie Oval (H) | 24,132 | 11–6 |
| 18 | Saturday, 5 August (2:10 pm) | South Melbourne | 13.11 (89) | 23.10 (148) | Won by 59 points | Lake Oval (A) | 9,207 | 12–6 |
| 19 | Saturday, 12 August (2:10 pm) | Richmond | 15.12 (102) | 17.11 (113) | Lost by 11 points | Glenferrie Oval (H) | 18,834 | 12–7 |
| 20 | Saturday, 19 August (2:10 pm) | Essendon | 15.16 (106) | 12.15 (87) | Won by 19 points | VFL Park (H) | 36,861 | 13–7 |
| 21 | Saturday, 26 August (2:10 pm) | Carlton | 24.12 (156) | 11.22 (88) | Lost by 68 points | Princes Park (A) | 32,048 | 13–8 |
| 22 | Saturday, 2 September (2:10 pm) | St Kilda | 15.12 (102) | 18.13 (121) | Lost by 19 points | Glenferrie Oval (H) | 22,923 | 13–9 |

## Ladder

| (P) | Premiers |
| | Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
| 1 | Carlton (P) | 22 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 2237 | 1666 | 134.3 | 74 |
| 2 | Richmond | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 2469 | 2098 | 117.7 | 72 |
| 3 | Collingwood | 22 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 2338 | 1747 | 133.8 | 58 |
| 4 | St Kilda | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 1989 | 1721 | 115.6 | 56 |
| 5 | Essendon | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 2317 | 2140 | 108.3 | 56 |
| 6 | Hawthorn | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 2277 | 2050 | 111.1 | 52 |
| 7 | Footscray | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1930 | 2038 | 94.7 | 44 |
| 8 | Melbourne | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 2043 | 1929 | 105.9 | 40 |
| 9 | Fitzroy | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 1997 | 2062 | 96.8 | 36 |
| 10 | Geelong | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1994 | 2369 | 84.2 | 28 |
| 11 | South Melbourne | 22 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 1513 | 2323 | 65.1 | 8 |
| 12 | North Melbourne | 22 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 1628 | 2589 | 62.9 | 4 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Average score: 93.7 Source: AFL Tables