With the AFL trade period and draft completed, and players returning to the Hawthorn Football Club after their off-season break, attention has now turned to who will receive what guernsey number for the 2025 season. One of the most anticipated events on the calendar, speculation is already starting about who will move numbers and which new recruit will receive a specific number.
Will Tom Barrass take the vacant number 37 guernsey, which is the same as he wore at West Coast?
Will Nick Watson keep the number 34, so he is close to his mates in the Ratpack? Or will he want to change to a smaller number?
What about Josh Battle? Number 21? Number 24?
Will any other players look to make a change from their current number?
After signing a new contract extension to stay at the Hawks, will Finn Maginness move to the newly vacant number 20 that his dad wore at the club to Premiership glory?
While all this speculation goes on, ones eyes should instead be directed to the number 36 that is currently worn by Hawthorn key defender, James Blanck, who is on the comeback trail after his ACL injury that he sustained in the intra-club match in February of 2024.
All Hawthorn supporters know about the agony that James Blanck went through earlier this year, when a tackle went wrong in the intra-club match and left him needing multiple surgeries to repair his ACL and to clean out infections that were causing significant concerns with his knee.
Blanck was left to watch on from the sidelines this year as the Hawks made the charge up the ladder.
The number 36 that Blanck currently wears has had a wretched history for the brown and gold throughout it’s history, and has never been worn in any of the Hawks 13 premierships.
It has been synonymous with the likes of Max Bailey, Tim Boyle and Alex Woodward, as well as current holder, James Blanck, who all had serious leg injuries that impacted their careers.
Bailey had the number for three seasons, playing four games for the Hawks and also unfortunately having two serious ACL injuries, before he was moved to #1, where he became a premiership player.
Tim Boyle, a Hawthorn key forward, who was drafted in 2002, wore the number for three seasons, playing three games, while also having a horrendous broken leg and torn hamstring ligaments that curtailed his influence.
Alex Woodward suffered a similar fate, having worn the number for two years and not being able to get onto the park due to seemingly endless serious knee injuries.
The Hawthorn games record holder for number 36 was Brian Falconer, who played 57 games from 1956 to 1960 wearing the unlucky number.
Dylan Moore, who currently wears number 13, holds the second highest games record for the number 36, having worn it for 30 games.
Coincidentally, Moore was number 36 when he was delisted and then re-rookied to the club.
Some will say that the curse of the number 36 was broken by Moore. On closer reflection though, Dylan has gone on to great heights in the number 13 guernsey, which has a famed history, having been worn by Norm Smith Medallist Paul Dear back in 1991.
With numbers still on the table including 20, 21, 24 and 37, this Hawthorn supporter feels that it is time to officially retire the number 36 and give James Blanck a new number so that he can return from his ACL injury in 2025 not only with a renewed sense of confidence, but also with the monkey of the unlucky history of guernsey number 36 off of his back.
