# 1979 Hawthorn Football Club season

The 1979 season was the Hawthorn Football Club's 55th season in the Victorian Football League and 78th overall. Hawthorn entered the season as the defending VFL Premiers. This was the first time since 1973 Hawthorn didn't qualify for finals.

## 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, 7 April (2:10 pm) | St Kilda | 19.14 (128) | 14.19 (103) | Lost by 25 points | Moorabbin Oval (A) | 22,060 | 0–1 |
| 2 | Saturday, 14 April (2:10 pm) | Collingwood | 13.24 (102) | 19.18 (132) | Lost by 30 points | Princes Park (H) | 29,391 | 0–2 |
| 3 | Saturday, 21 April (2:10 pm) | Geelong | 18.15 (123) | 11.17 (83) | Won by 40 points | Princes Park (H) | 14,876 | 1–2 |
| 4 | Wednesday, 25 April (2:10 pm) | South Melbourne | 29.15 (189) | 15.5 (95) | Won by 94 points | VFL Park (H) | 37,276 | 2–2 |
| 5 | Saturday, 5 May (2:10 pm) | Richmond | 11.16 (82) | 24.17 (161) | Won by 79 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | 31,479 | 3–2 |
| 6 | Saturday, 12 May (2:10 pm) | Carlton | 16.12 (108) | 25.18 (168) | Lost by 60 points | Princes Park (H) | 29,935 | 3–3 |
| 7 | Saturday, 19 May (2:10 pm) | Fitzroy | 14.18 (102) | 11.24 (90) | Lost by 12 points | Junction Oval (A) | 15,872 | 3–4 |
| 8 | Saturday, 26 May (2:10 pm) | Melbourne | 17.18 (120) | 10.17 (77) | Won by 43 points | Princes Park (H) | 10,977 | 4–4 |
| 9 | Saturday, 2 June (2:10 pm) | Essendon | 16.12 (108) | 17.14 (116) | Lost by 8 points | Princes Park (H) | 24,875 | 4–5 |
| 10 | Sunday, 10 June (2:10 pm) | North Melbourne | 16.9 (105) | 23.18 (156) | Won by 51 points | Sydney Cricket Ground (A) | 31,395 | 5–5 |
| 11 | Saturday, 16 June (2:10 pm) | Footscray | 15.10 (100) | 15.11 (101) | Lost by 1 point | Princes Park (H) | 12,516 | 5–6 |
| 12 | Saturday, 23 June (2:10 pm) | St Kilda | 19.18 (132) | 13.15 (93) | Won by 39 points | Princes Park (H) | 13,176 | 5–7 |
| 13 | Saturday, 30 June (2:10 pm) | Collingwood | 25.19 (169) | 8.16 (64) | Lost by 105 points | Victoria Park (A) | 22,903 | 5–8 |
| 14 | Saturday, 7 July (2:10 pm) | South Melbourne | 13.11 (89) | 10.14 (74) | Lost by 15 points | Lake Oval (A) | 10,626 | 5–9 |
| 15 | Saturday, 14 July (2:10 pm) | Geelong | 11.12 (78) | 11.13 (79) | Won by 1 point | VFL Park (A) | 20,777 | 6–9 |
| 16 | Saturday, 21 July (2:10 pm) | Richmond | 14.20 (104) | 18.11 (119) | Lost by 15 points | Princes Park (H) | 13,557 | 6–10 |
| 17 | Saturday, 28 July (2:10 pm) | Carlton | 15.21 (111) | 12.11 (83) | Lost by 28 points | Princes Park (A) | 22,159 | 6–11 |
| 18 | Saturday, 4 August (2:10 pm) | Fitzroy | 15.14 (104) | 15.25 (115) | Lost by 11 points | Princes Park (H) | 15,104 | 6–12 |
| 19 | Saturday, 11 August (2:10 pm) | Melbourne | 8.25 (73) | 14.11 (95) | Won by 22 points | VFL Park (A) | 12,827 | 7–12 |
| 20 | Saturday, 18 August (2:10 pm) | Essendon | 9.16 (70) | 10.14 (74) | Won by 4 points | Windy Hill (A) | 18,671 | 8–12 |
| 21 | Saturday, 25 August (2:10 pm) | North Melbourne | 7.18 (60) | 24.21 (165) | Lost by 105 points | Princes Park (H) | 18,492 | 8–13 |
| 22 | Saturday, 1 September (2:10 pm) | Footscray | 9.11 (65) | 14.19 (103) | Won by 38 points | Western Oval (A) | 12,839 | 9–13 |

## Ladder

| (P) | Premiers |
| | Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
| 1 | Carlton (P) | 22 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 2772 | 1986 | 139.6 | 76 |
| 2 | North Melbourne | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 2574 | 2083 | 123.6 | 68 |
| 3 | Collingwood | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2501 | 1974 | 126.7 | 60 |
| 4 | Fitzroy | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2699 | 2198 | 122.8 | 60 |
| 5 | Essendon | 22 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2236 | 2127 | 105.1 | 50 |
| 6 | Geelong | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2149 | 2140 | 100.4 | 48 |
| 7 | Hawthorn | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 2332 | 2336 | 99.8 | 40 |
| 8 | Richmond | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 2451 | 2512 | 97.6 | 36 |
| 9 | Footscray | 22 | 7 | 14 | 1 | 2015 | 2463 | 81.8 | 30 |
| 10 | South Melbourne | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 2424 | 2666 | 90.9 | 24 |
| 11 | Melbourne | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 2093 | 2759 | 75.9 | 24 |
| 12 | St Kilda | 22 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 1857 | 2859 | 65.0 | 12 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Average score: 106.5 Source: AFL Tables