When Mark Harvey talks about Essendon’s inherent hostility with Hawthorn, you can just about see the last 42 years’ worth of animosity flaring in his eyes.

He’s spent the majority of that time directly involved with the Bombers – as a player, an assistant coach and an ambassador – and it’s clear there are some things that can just never truly go away. 

Harvey joined an Essendon list in 1984 that could’ve very easily been fractured from an 83-point decimation at the Hawks’ hands in a Grand Final just one year prior, where 110,000 people watched an emerging young side get schooled by one of the premier Clubs of their era. 

On the flipside, they were far from fractured. They were united in anger, with a point to prove.

Amidst all the theatrics of Kevin Sheedy’s public spat with Allan Jeans – an allegation that was never forgiven by the Hawthorn icon – Harvey was a first-year player gaining a very rapid understanding of how these two clubs felt about each other.

“It was just intense,” Harvey said.

“It really became prominent because of the personalities that were involved at both clubs. Different type of coaches, flamboyant players. The characters within those teams were just wired to be combative and aggressive. 

“I was only a young player that was very lucky to be inducted in that team during the time. Prior to 1983, there were players on both sides that had been going around for 10-plus years like Leigh Matthews, Roger Merrett, Simon Madden. 

“The difference is that our guys hadn’t experienced their success and they were coming up against them to try and get it at the end of their careers.

“To be caught up in that as a young player, you learn quickly.”

The contests more than lived up to their weighty expectations after that.

A narrow eight-point defeat in the Second Semi-Final in 1984 was lauded by Sheedy as one of the greatest games of footy he’d ever been involved in. Despite the result, it gave the Bombers a new level of confidence that they could now match it with the benchmark.

Essendon’s dramatic nine-goal blitz in the Grand Final and their subsequent 78-point destruction of the Hawks in 1985’s decider have been well documented since. 

Leon Baker’s final quarter heroics in ’84 helped to not only turn the tide of football’s biggest day itself, but to establish a necessary confidence in one of the greatest Essendon sides in its 150-plus-year history.

Just a year after their breakthrough, the Dons went back-to-back and dismantled Matthews’ farewell party with a dominant Grand Final performance across the board.

Although there’s an obvious fondness from Harvey in looking back at those battles (and the success of those two premierships by extension), he notes a jealousy on both sides that lingered into the subsequent decades. 

Hawthorn found more success in adding a further four flags to their cabinet by 1991. While the Bombers responded with two of their own from the ‘Baby Bombers’ of 1993 and the sheer power of their record-breaking 24-1 giants in 2000, Harvey still wanted to outdo the Hawks.

While the 1990’s didn’t feature quite as many major storylines for Essendon vs. Hawthorn, that context is important to note heading into the 21^st century, where another very volatile chapter in the stories of these two was written. 

The Bombers triumphed by fine margins in a taxing 2001 Preliminary Final, their first September matchup against Hawthorn since 1989 and still to this day, the last time they’ve met in a final. 

Bruce McAvaney coined ‘Smokin’ Joe Misiti’s long-range goal as the ‘knockout’, while Paul Barnard and Scott Lucas jumped in with late majors to ensure the Hawks wouldn’t provide the upset they were hoping for.

Harvey was an Assistant Coach to Sheedy at that time and held his role into 2005, which also captured the infamous ‘Line in the Sand’ moment from 2004 which some still point to as the apex of this rivalry from a sheer hatred standing.

Even as far ahead as Matthew Lloyd’s massive hit on Brad Sewell and the Dons crippling Hawthorn’s chances of a premiership defence in round 22 of 2009, the memories remained. 

“A lot of it really does go back to the memory of what had transpired in the years before,” Harvey said.

“Let’s face it, ‘Sheeds’ was coach for that whole period of time (until 2007), so there was always resentment. It was built upon wins and losses when you played each other and for what those wins and losses meant. 

“That was what then unfolded again in 2001 and ultimately what led to that fighting (in games like 2004 and 2009).

“We must remember, Hawthorn went on to win more premierships after our initial grand finals we played. There was probably a jealousy over who’d been the best during those eras. 

In the present day, Harvey’s feelings certainly haven’t mellowed over time.

In a similar vein to the rivalry’s origins, this Essendon team is young and they’re gunning to prove themselves against good sides like the current iteration of the Hawks. 

While the Bombers have maintained a consistent record against their rivals (winning six of their last eight encounters head-to-head), there’s a clear aspiration to again reach the big finals that Hawthorn have been active in over the last two seasons.

“There’s obviously a lot of interesting things that have transpired over the last 10 years. Hawthorn have liked to remind us of what we've been through as a club, so the reality with the rivalry is that it’s still embedded, that’s the easiest way to put it.

“It’s embedded for the people who are involved and continue to be involved, because they represent the past as well as the future.” 

On Friday night, we’ll see arguably the most anticipated Essendon-Hawthorn clash in the best part of a decade. 

Senior Coach Brad Scott even agreed on Monday that the off-season narratives had added an ‘extra spice’ to the clash from the perspective of attendance and external hype. 

When Harvey looks at this developing Dons group, he sees an opportunity for them to prove themselves.

“(Essendon) appear to have regrouped quite quickly, but we'll see in time,” Harvey said. 

“We’re in a very tough competition and we probably aspire to do what Hawthorn have done from a list point of view and where they’ve been in recent years.

“We've got to have that capacity to be able to do it, but we're aspiring to do it. With young talent, you never know where they can go and how quickly they can get there.”