Round 4, 2001
Hawthorn vs Melbourne
Sunday 22 April
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 30,113
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Hawthorn | 4.6 | 4.9 | 6.14 | 11.17.83 |
| Melbourne | 1.2 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 5.14.44 |
Hawthorn win by 39 points
Goalkickers: David Neitz 2, Brad Green 1, Shane Woewodin 1, Adem Yze 1
Brownlow votes:
1 - Matthew Collins
Best and Fairest
30 - David Neitz
25 - David Schwarz
14 - Adem Yze
14 - Alistair Nicholson
11 - Nathan Brown
7 - Anthony McDonald
5 - Daniel Ward
Milestones:
Nil
A few weeks earlier Hawthorn had won an Ansett Cup game by a hundred points, and though the Demons were 10 goals better in the wet they were still beaten comfortably. Defeat ended a week of turmoil at the club, with David Schwarz apologising for racially vilifying Justin Murphy of Geelong a week earlier, and Joseph Gutnick at war with the league after being threatened with a fine for commenting on the matter.
Hawthorn jumped to a three goal lead at quarter time with the aid of the breeze, but by half-time the Demons had dragged the margin back to four. The Hawks were back out to a three goal buffer at the last change, but a clever Shane Woewodin goal early in the last term reduced the margin to 11 points. They didn't get any closer, with Hawthorn drawing away after a controversial goal from the square via a 50 metre penalty for an Andrew Leoncelli spoil on Ben Dixon. They kicked the next four, reaching the top of the ladder for the first time in eight seasons and dropping Melbourne to 2-2.
Neale Daniher refused to use the decision against Leoncelli as an excuse for the loss and said "I thought we came out of the blocks real slow. To the credit of the boys they really fought back to get into the game. But they were able to take the game away from us in the second half." Daniher lamented his side's lapses, but said fightbacks were "all for nothing if you don't work harder for longer".
Best were Walsh, Woewodin and Nicholson.
Video
Media
Sunday Mail - 22/04/2001
AFANA News 2001
Age - 23/04/2001
Advertiser - 23/04/2001
Herald Sun - 23/04/2001
Australian - 23/04/2001