“Indoctrinated hatred”: Inside Line in the Sand, Lloyd’s infamous Sewell hit

"Indoctrinated hatred".

As a Hawthorn player, there's only one feeling towards Essendon. "Hatred".

The fiery and impassioned history between the two clubs hit fever pitch during the 1980s, when a string of three consecutive grand finals took place. The Bombers claimed two flags.

In those momentous contests, on multiple occasions, players were suspended for striking, including Hawks great Dermott Brereton.

"It's one of things when you're first drafted to Hawthorn, you're indoctrinated into this hatred towards Essendon from past greats of the club," premiership Hawk Campbell Brown told Zero Hanger.

"No one disliked Essendon more than Dermie."

For years, the rivalry had danced with irrelevancy, as both sides shared clear dominance over the other.

But throughout time, there's been signs of the genuine dislike that filtered through the 1980s.

Last October, then-Essendon captain Zach Merrett desperately wanted to join the brown and gold, but ultimately failed.

Brown labelled the move as "sacrilege".

"You don't blame Essendon for putting their foot down and not letting the trade to go through," he added.

"But I mean imagine if (Hawthorn) could've stolen the Essendon captain. That would have been something that's never been done before."

Two decades earlier, there was the Line in the Sand Game (2004).

The Bombers were on a eight-game win streak leading into that infamous Round 11 clash at the MCG. And the Hawks, young and old, were fed up over the dominance.

Brereton took it upon himself to inspire his former club during the half-time break, as Hawthorn trailed by 32 points.

"It reinvigorated that rivalry," Brown said. "It dropped off a little bit because we hadn't played in big finals like the sides of the 80s.

"The rivalry died down a little, but certainly simmered back to life after the line in the sand game. Dermie coming into the rooms at half time, trying to incite a few players.

"(Peter Schwab) Schwabby was really vocal too about going out there and taking a stand. Not allowing Essendon to continue walking over us, intimidating us, dominate us."

And to no surprise, Brown was "smack bang in the middle of it".

"I was trying to get after Mark Johnson, who put a late dump tackle on Robert Campbell. And instructions were to not allow him to walk off the field. We were to target him.

"I was playing on Dean Rioli at the time. When the fight sparked up, we were involved in our own wrestle. I thought I better hang on for dear life because he was bigger and stronger than me, and if I let go, I'd be in trouble.

"You saw spot fires popping up all over the field. It was hard to exactly recall what was going on in that moment.

"Richie Vandenberg got six weeks (suspension). Simon Beaumont and Justin Murphy, who were going out for dinner that night as ex teammates, with friends, but were reported for striking each other so they cancelled dinner."

It didn't take long for the "hatred" to renew. 

In 2009, which turned out to be Bombers great Matthew Lloyd's last AFL game, a bump on Brad Sewell was seen as vindictive and not in the spirit of the game, earning the tag as a "sniper".

The winner would claim a spot in the finals.

"It sparked back to life again, didn't it?" Brown said.

"Because after the Line in the Sand game, we finally beat Essendon for the first time, and then we dominated them like they dominated us.

"We tried to physically, emotionally intimidate and get stuck into them. The tables really did turn. But it really culminated into that game with Lloydy and Sewelly."

Lloyd was under the pump from then-coach Matthew Knights, and with discussion around retirement, made a move.

But Sewell may not have been his first target.

"He started on the edge of the square and naively, in hindsight, some of us Hawthorn defenders didn't really think too much about it," Brown recalled.

"We could've maybe prevented allowing him the clean run off the line. I think he said he was aiming, initially, and get Sam Mitchell, who was the sweeper, but the way the ruck tap went, was poor old Sewelly on the end of the shirt front.

"When you see a great mate and teammate on the ground with his hand clawing in the mode of someone badly concussed or knocked out, you lose all sort of sense of right and wrong. You go in there and fly the flag for your teammate.

"Credit to Essendon, and Lloydy, it turned the game. We were more focused on squaring up and not concentrating on footy and Essendon ran away and got the four points.

"It was interesting after the final siren to see Clarko get held back on the boundary line by Mark Evans. He had a few choice words at Lloydy as he walked off.

"I called Lloydy a sniper."

Brown was one of 11 players to feature in both infamous contests.

So, what does the modern-day rivalry have in store for fans on Friday night at the MCG?

The Round 1 clash will be the fourth consecutive contest in the primetime slot, and has welcomed at least 68,000 fans on each occasion.

But the Merrett saga will provide plenty of intrigue for those casting their eyes on this contest. The Bombers gun will be seen as the enemy, but got so close to switching sides.