| Club: | Hawthorn Football Club |
| Season: | 1978 |
| President: | Phil J. Ryan |
| Coach: | David Parkin |
| Captain: | Don Scott |
| Home Ground: | Princes Park |
| Regularseason Comp: | VFL season |
| Regularseason Result: | 16–6 (2nd) |
| Finals Series: | Finals series |
| Finals Result: | Premiers (Defeated 121–103) |
| Club B&Amp;F: | Best and Fairest |
| Best And Fairest: | Peter Knights Leigh Matthews |
| Leading Goalscorer: | Michael Moncrieff (90) |
| Highest Attendance: | 100,704 (Grand Final vs.) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 9,198 (Round 7 vs.) |
| Average Attendance: | 30,329 |
| Prevseason: | 1977 |
| Nextseason: | 1979 |
The 1978 season was the Hawthorn Football Club's 54th season in the Victorian Football League and 77th overall. Hawthorn qualified for finals for the fifth consecutive season. Hawthorn qualified for their sixth Grand Final and first since 1976. Hawthorn won their fourth VFL premiership defeating in the Grand Final 121–103. This was their first premiership since 1976.
| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Hawthorn's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance | Record | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | Away | Result | |||||||
| 1 | Saturday, 1 April (2:10 pm) | 22.15 (147) | 9.14 (68) | Won by 79 points | Princes Park (H) | 11,986 | 1–0 | ||
| 2 | Saturday, 8 April (2:10 pm) | 16.8 (104) | 18.24 (132) | Won by 28 points | Lake Oval (A) | 15,072 | 2–0 | ||
| 3 | Saturday, 15 April (2:10 pm) | 16.15 (111) | 12.14 (86) | Lost by 25 points | VFL Park (A) | 39,097 | 2–1 | ||
| 4 | Saturday, 22 April (2:10 pm) | 14.19 (103) | 15.15 (105) | Won by 2 points | Victoria Park (A) | 29,577 | 3–1 | ||
| 5 | Saturday, 29 April (2:10 pm) | 14.17 (101) | 15.12 (102) | Lost by 1 point | Princes Park (H) | 13,788 | 3–2 | ||
| 6 | Saturday, 6 May (2:10 pm) | 19.12 (126) | 24.13 (157) | Won by 31 points | Princes Park (A) | 19,649 | 4–2 | ||
| 7 | Saturday, 13 May (2:10 pm) | 27.15 (177) | 13.13 (91) | Won by 86 points | Princes Park (H) | 9,198 | 5–2 | ||
| 8 | Saturday, 20 May (2:10 pm) | 9.16 (70) | 14.15 (99) | Won by 29 points | VFL Park (A) | 27,224 | 6–2 | ||
| 9 | Saturday, 27 May (2:10 pm) | 8.9 (57) | 13.19 (97) | Won by 40 points | Moorabbin Oval (A) | 25,293 | 7–2 | ||
| 10 | Saturday, 3 June (2:10 pm) | 12.24 (96) | 8.13 (61) | Won by 35 points | Princes Park (H) | 11,203 | 8–2 | ||
| 11 | Saturday, 17 June (2:10 pm) | 16.8 (104) | 19.19 (133) | Won by 29 points | Windy Hill (A) | 24,217 | 9–2 | ||
| 12 | Saturday, 24 June (2:10 pm) | 15.18 (108) | 18.20 (128) | Won by 20 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | 14,652 | 10–2 | ||
| 13 | Saturday, 1 July (2:10 pm) | 21.14 (140) | 18.11 (119) | Won by 21 points | Princes Park (H) | 13,853 | 11–2 | ||
| 14 | Saturday, 8 July (2:10 pm) | 10.14 (74) | 13.6 (84) | Lost by 10 points | VFL Park (H) | 46,086 | 11–3 | ||
| 15 | Saturday, 15 July (2:10 pm) | 10.14 (74) | 7.13 (55) | Won by 19 points | Princes Park (H) | 16,214 | 12–3 | ||
| 16 | Saturday, 22 July (2:10 pm) | 18.14 (122) | 17.19 (121) | Lost by 1 point | Junction Oval (A) | 12,299 | 12–4 | ||
| 17 | Saturday, 29 July (2:10 pm) | 13.17 (95) | 18.11 (119) | Lost by 24 points | Princes Park (H) | 28,118 | 12–5 | ||
| 18 | Saturday, 5 August (2:10 pm) | 17.10 (112) | 17.16 (118) | Won by 6 points | Western Oval (A) | 17,255 | 13–5 | ||
| 19 | Saturday, 12 August (2:10 pm) | 18.19 (127) | 10.10 (70) | Won by 57 points | Princes Park (H) | 15,979 | 14–5 | ||
| 20 | Saturday, 19 August (2:10 pm) | 12.11 (83) | 21.13 (139) | Lost by 56 points | VFL Park (H) | 31,677 | 14–6 | ||
| 21 | Saturday, 26 August (2:10 pm) | 13.8 (86) | 13.10 (88) | Won by 2 points | Kardinia Park (A) | 21,663 | 15–6 | ||
| 22 | Saturday, 2 September (2:10 pm) | 17.16 (118) | 16.13 (109) | Won by 9 points | Princes Park (H) | 14,534 | 16–6 | ||
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| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Hawthorn's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | Away | Result | ||||||
| Qualifying Final | Saturday, 9 September (2:30 pm) | 23.16 (154) | 14.14 (98) | Won by 56 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (H) | 79,931 | ||
| Second semi-final | Saturday, 16 September (2:30 pm) | 10.13 (73) | 12.15 (87) | Won by 14 points | VFL Park (A) | 48,716 | ||
| Grand Final | Saturday, 30 September (2:50 pm) | 18.13 (121) | 15.13 (103) | Won by 18 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (H) | 101,704 | ||