2008 Hawthorn Football Club season

The 2008 season was the Hawthorn Football Club's 84th season in the Australian Football League and 107th overall.

Hawthorn Football Club

2008 season
President	Jeff Kennett
Coach	Alastair Clarkson
Captain(s)	Sam Mitchell
Home ground	Melbourne Cricket Ground Aurora Stadium
Pre-season competition	Semi final
AFL season	17–5 (2nd)
Finals series	Premiers (Defeated Geelong 115–89)
Best and Fairest	Lance Franklin
Leading goalkicker	Lance Franklin (113)
Highest home attendance	86,179 (Round 16 vs. Geelong)
Lowest home attendance	15,124 (Round 4 vs. Adelaide)
Average home attendance	45,649
← 2007 2009 →

One of the most prominent Hawthorn players in 2008 was teenager Lance Franklin.^[1]

Playing list changes

Draft

AFL draft

Round	Overall pick	Player	Recruited from	ref
1	12	Cyril Rioli	St Mary's
2	29	Brendan Whitecross	Zillmere
3	45	Stuart Dew	Port Adelaide

Rookie draft

Round	Overall pick	Player	Recruited from	ref
1	11	Hugh Sandilands	Oakleigh Chargers
2	27	Tim Walsh	Port Adelaide Magpies
3	42	Alex Grima	Tassie Mariners
4	54	Cameron Stokes	Darwin

Retirements and delistings

Date	Player	2008 team	Reason	Ref
6 September 2007	Richie Vandenberg	—	Retired
19 September 2007	Ben Dixon	—	Retired
25 September 2007	Joel Smith	—	Retired
16 October 2007	Matt Little	—	Delisted
16 October 2007	Josh Thurgood	—	Delisted

2008 player squad

2008 Hawthorn Football Club squad

Senior list						Rookie list		Coaching staff
1 Max Bailey  2 Jarryd Roughead  3 Jordan Lewis  4 Rick Ladson  5 Sam Mitchell (C)  6 Mark Williams  7 Michael Osborne  8 Xavier Ellis  9 Shane Crawford 10 Chance Bateman 11 Clinton Young 12 Brad Sewell 13 Simon Taylor 14 Grant Birchall 15 Luke Hodge (VC) 16 Beau Dowler 17 Beau Muston 18 Brent Guerra 19 Mitch Thorp 20 Tim Boyle		21 Ben McGlynn 22 Travis Tuck 23 Lance Franklin 24 Trent Croad 25 Tim Clarke 26 Zac Dawson 27 Stephen Gilham 28 Garry Moss 29 Tom Murphy 30 Campbell Brown 31 Stuart Dew 33 Cyril Rioli 34 Brent Renouf 35 Jarryd Morton 36 Josh Kennedy 37 Brendan Whitecross 38 Luke McEntee 39 Robert Campbell Danny Jacobs (ret)				40 Hugh Sandilands 41 Tim Walsh 42 Matt Suckling 43 Alex Grima 44 Cameron Stokes		Head coach Alastair Clarkson Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s) Updated: 27 September 2008 Source(s): Draftguru

Fixture

NAB Cup

See also: 2008 NAB Cup

Rd	Date and local time	Opponent	Scores (Hawthorn's scores indicated in bold)			Venue	Attendance
			Home	Away	Result
1	Sunday, 17 February (3:40 pm)	Sydney	3.2.13 (52)	0.7.8 (50)	Won by 2 points	Aurora Stadium (H)	14,778
Quarter final	Saturday, 23 February (7:10 pm)	Carlton	4.9.13 (103)	4.3.15 (69)	Won by 34 points	Telstra Dome (H)	20,940
Semi-final	Saturday, 1 March (6:40 pm)	Adelaide	2.13.11 (107)	1.11.9 (84)	Lost by 23 points	AAMI Stadium (A)	14,033

Premiership season

Rd	Date and local time	Opponent	Scores (Hawthorn's scores indicated in bold)			Venue	Attendance	Record	Report
			Home	Away	Result
1	Sunday, 23 March (4:40 pm)	Melbourne	23.16 (154)	6.14 (50)	Won by 104 points	Melbourne Cricket Ground (H)	40,141	1–0	Report
2	Saturday, 29 March (5:40 pm)	Fremantle	14.13 (97)	16.16 (112)	Won by 15 points	Subiaco Oval (A)	38,022	2–0	Report
3	Saturday, 5 April (2:10 pm)	North Melbourne	13.8 (86)	15.12 (102)	Won by 16 points	Telstra Dome (A)	39,816	3–0	Report
4	Sunday, 13 April (1:10 pm)	Adelaide	17.12 (114)	10.10 (70)	Won by 44 points	Aurora Stadium (H)	15,124	4–0	Report
5	Saturday, 19 April (7:10 pm)	Brisbane Lions	17.16 (118)	19.16 (130)	Won by 12 points	The Gabba (A)	30,019	5–0	Report
6	Sunday, 27 April (4:40 pm)	Richmond	14.22 (106)	15.4 (94)	Won by 12 points	Melbourne Cricket Ground (H)	46,076	6–0	Report
7	Saturday, 3 May (2:10 pm)	Collingwood	24.10 (154)	13.11 (89)	Won by 65 points	Melbourne Cricket Ground (H)	76,048	7–0	Report
8	Saturday, 17 May (2:10 pm)	Port Adelaide	17.15 (117)	15.12 (102)	Won by 15 points	Aurora Stadium (H)	15,682	8–0	Report
9	Sunday, 25 May (2:10 pm)	Melbourne	12.6 (78)	14.13 (97)	Won by 19 points	Melbourne Cricket Ground (A)	41,341	9–0	Report
10	Saturday, 31 May (2:10 pm)	Western Bulldogs	12.2 (74)	15.16 (106)	Lost by 32 points	Aurora Stadium (H)	19,378	9–1	Report
11	Saturday, 7 June (7:10 pm)	Essendon	12.7 (79)	19.16 (130)	Won by 51 points	Telstra Dome (A)	46,377	10–1	Report
12	Saturday, 14 June (7:10 pm)	Adelaide	10.12 (72)	11.10 (76)	Won by 4 points	AAMI Stadium (A)	44,559	11–1	Report
13	Saturday, 21 June (2:10 pm)	North Melbourne	10.16 (76)	15.13 (103)	Lost by 27 points	Melbourne Cricket Ground (A)	42,508	11–2	Report
14	Friday, 27 June (7:40 pm)	West Coast	18.18 (126)	9.15 (69)	Won by 57 points	Melbourne Cricket Ground (H)	29,138	12–2	Report
15	Sunday, 13 July (1:10 pm)	Sydney	15.16 (106)	10.15 (75)	Won by 31 points	Melbourne Cricket Ground (H)	49,529	13–2	Report
16	Saturday, 19 July (7:10 pm)	St Kilda	18.11 (119)	13.11 (89)	Lost by 30 points	Telstra Dome (A)	41,886	13–3	Report
17	Friday, 25 July (7:40 pm)	Geelong	11.11 (77)	12.16 (88)	Lost by 11 points	Melbourne Cricket Ground (H)	86,179	13–4	Report
18	Friday, 1 August (7:40 pm)	Collingwood	8.14 (62)	17.14 (116)	Won by 54 points	Melbourne Cricket Ground (A)	58,307	14–4	Report
19	Saturday, 9 August (2:10 pm)	Brisbane Lions	16.14 (110)	5.11 (41)	Won by 69 points	Aurora Stadium (H)	19,929	15–4	Report
20	Sunday, 17 August (1:10 pm)	Richmond	16.9 (105)	10.16 (76)	Lost by 29 points	Melbourne Cricket Ground (A)	44,523	15–5	Report
21	Sunday, 24 August (2:40 pm)	West Coast	9.8 (62)	19.19 (133)	Won by 71 points	Subiaco Oval (A)	37,040	16–5	Report
22	Saturday, 30 August (7:10 pm)	Carlton	12.9 (81)	24.15 (159)	Won by 78 points	Telstra Dome (A)	49,057	17–5	Report

Ladder

2008 AFL ladder

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PP	Pts
1	Geelong	22	21	1	0	2672	1651	161.8	84	Finals series
2	Hawthorn (P)	22	17	5	0	2434	1846	131.9	68
3	Western Bulldogs	22	15	6	1	2506	2112	118.7	62
4	St Kilda	22	13	9	0	2126	1923	110.6	52
5	Adelaide	22	13	9	0	2017	1838	109.7	52
6	Sydney	22	12	9	1	2095	1863	112.5	50
7	North Melbourne	22	12	9	1	2121	2187	97.0	50
8	Collingwood	22	12	10	0	2267	2038	111.2	48
9	Richmond	22	11	10	1	2228	2288	97.4	46
10	Brisbane	22	10	12	0	2156	2200	98.0	40
11	Carlton	22	10	12	0	2217	2354	94.2	40
12	Essendon	22	8	14	0	2130	2608	81.7	32
13	Port Adelaide	22	7	15	0	2118	2208	95.9	28
14	Fremantle	22	6	16	0	1988	2121	93.7	24
15	West Coast	22	4	18	0	1670	2535	65.9	16
16	Melbourne	22	3	19	0	1629	2602	62.6	12

Source: AFL ladder
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Finals series

See also: 2008 AFL finals series

Rd	Date and local time	Opponent	Scores (Hawthorn's scores indicated in bold)			Venue	Attendance	Report
			Home	Away	Result
Qualifying final	Friday, 5 September (7:50 pm)	Western Bulldogs	18.19 (127)	11.10 (76)	Won by 51 points	Melbourne Cricket Ground (H)	76,703	Report
Semi-final	Advanced to Preliminary final
Preliminary final	Saturday, 20 September (7:00 pm)	St Kilda	18.10 (118)	9.10 (64)	Won by 54 points	Melbourne Cricket Ground (H)	77,002	Report
Grand Final	Saturday, 27 September (2:30 pm)	Geelong	11.23 (89)	18.7 (115)	Won by 26 points	Melbourne Cricket Ground (A)	100,012	Report

See also

• 2008 AFL season
• Hawthorn Football Club