# 1974 Hawthorn Football Club season

The 1974 season was the Hawthorn Football Club's 50th season in the Victorian Football League and 73rd overall. Hawthorn qualified for finals for the first time since 1971, where they were defeated by North Melbourne in the Preliminary final 51–56.

## 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, 6 April (2:10 pm) | Richmond | 12.16 (88) | 15.14 (104) | Won by 16 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | 38,734 | 1–0 |
| 2 | Saturday, 13 April (2:10 pm) | Collingwood | 6.12 (48) | 10.11 (71) | Lost by 23 points | Princes Park (H) | 30,216 | 1–1 |
| 3 | Saturday, 20 April (2:10 pm) | South Melbourne | 8.18 (66) | 20.15 (135) | Won by 69 points | Lake Oval (A) | 11,828 | 2–1 |
| 4 | Saturday, 27 April (2:10 pm) | Essendon | 9.15 (69) | 5.13 (43) | Won by 26 points | Princes Park (H) | 17,598 | 3–1 |
| 5 | Saturday, 4 May (2:10 pm) | Footscray | 8.14 (62) | 11.19 (85) | Lost by 23 points | VFL Park (H) | 20,275 | 3–2 |
| 6 | Saturday, 11 May (2:10 pm) | Fitzroy | 18.16 (124) | 13.16 (94) | Lost by 30 points | Junction Oval (A) | 10,588 | 3–3 |
| 7 | Saturday, 18 May (2:10 pm) | Carlton | 13.22 (100) | 8.12 (60) | Won by 40 points | Princes Park (H) | 21,266 | 4–3 |
| 8 | Saturday, 25 May (2:10 pm) | Melbourne | 6.15 (51) | 13.21 (99) | Won by 48 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | 18,030 | 5–3 |
| 9 | Saturday, 1 June (2:10 pm) | St Kilda | 18.15 (123) | 10.16 (76) | Won by 47 points | Princes Park Football Ground (H) | 12,631 | 6–3 |
| 10 | Saturday, 8 June (2:10 pm) | Geelong | 14.13 (97) | 10.6 (66) | Won by 31 points | VFL Park (H) | 18,562 | 7–3 |
| 11 | Monday, 17 June (2:10 pm) | North Melbourne | 14.11 (95) | 9.21 (75) | Lost by 20 points | Arden Street Oval (A) | 17,368 | 7–4 |
| 12 | Saturday, 22 June (2:10 pm) | Richmond | 19.17 (131) | 15.18 (108) | Won by 23 points | Princes Park (H) | 15,648 | 8–4 |
| 13 | Saturday, 29 June (2:10 pm) | Collingwood | 13.18 (96) | 13.12 (90) | Lost by 6 points | Victoria Park (A) | 26,028 | 8–5 |
| 14 | Saturday, 6 July (2:10 pm) | Essendon | 11.9 (75) | 23.17 (155) | Won by 80 points | Windy Hill (A) | 16,493 | 9–5 |
| 15 | Saturday, 13 July (2:10 pm) | South Melbourne | 16.14 (110) | 4.7 (31) | Won by 79 points | Princes Park (H) | 7,367 | 10–5 |
| 16 | Saturday, 20 July (2:10 pm) | Footscray | 8.12 (60) | 12.9 (81) | Won by 21 points | Western Oval (A) | 15,299 | 11–5 |
| 17 | Saturday, 27 July (2:10 pm) | Fitzroy | 13.28 (106) | 8.10 (58) | Won by 48 points | Princes Park (H) | 6,418 | 12–5 |
| 18 | Saturday, 3 August (2:10 pm) | Carlton | 14.12 (96) | 18.12 (120) | Won by 24 points | Princes Park (A) | 23,365 | 13–5 |
| 19 | Saturday, 10 August (2:10 pm) | Melbourne | 17.20 (122) | 14.13 (97) | Won by 25 points | Princes Park (H) | 8,754 | 14–5 |
| 20 | Saturday, 17 August (2:10 pm) | St Kilda | 11.9 (75) | 16.12 (108) | Won by 33 points | VFL Park (A) | 21,555 | 15–5 |
| 21 | Saturday, 24 August (2:10 pm) | Geelong | 15.12 (102) | 9.8 (62) | Lost by 40 points | Kardinia Park (A) | 17,834 | 15–6 |
| 22 | Saturday, 31 August (2:10 pm) | North Melbourne | 10.17 (77) | 16.10 (106) | Lost by 29 points | Princes Park (H) | 28,110 | 15–7 |

### Finals Series

| 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 |
| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Home | Away | Result | Venue | Attendance |
| Qualifying final | Saturday, 7 September (2:30 pm) | North Melbourne | 15.13 (103) | 8.17 (65) | Lost by 38 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | 77,519 |
| First semi-final | Saturday, 14 September (2:30 pm) | Collingwood | 21.12 (138) | 13.10 (88) | Won by 50 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (H) | 84,846 |
| Preliminary final | Saturday, 21 September (2:30 pm) | North Melbourne | 8.8 (56) | 7.9 (51) | Lost by 5 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | 88,262 |

## Ladder

| (P) | Premiers |
| | Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
| 1 | Richmond (P) | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 2558 | 1979 | 129.3 | 68 |
| 2 | North Melbourne | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 2398 | 1728 | 138.8 | 64 |
| 3 | Hawthorn | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2168 | 1729 | 125.4 | 60 |
| 4 | Collingwood | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2131 | 2037 | 104.6 | 60 |
| 5 | Footscray | 22 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 1899 | 1746 | 108.8 | 54 |
| 6 | Geelong | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1858 | 1989 | 93.4 | 44 |
| 7 | Carlton | 22 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 2053 | 1941 | 105.8 | 42 |
| 8 | Essendon | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 2110 | 2162 | 97.6 | 40 |
| 9 | South Melbourne | 22 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 1947 | 2327 | 83.7 | 38 |
| 10 | St Kilda | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1790 | 2018 | 88.7 | 28 |
| 11 | Fitzroy | 22 | 4 | 17 | 1 | 1770 | 2481 | 71.3 | 18 |
| 12 | Melbourne | 22 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 1840 | 2385 | 77.1 | 12 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Average score: 92.9 Source: AFL Tables