HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson has labelled his side's 16-point win over North Melbourne at Telstra Dome on Saturday afternoon as a "real character-building win".

Speaking after his post-match media conference, Clarkson said a handful of his players were suffering knocks after a hard-fought encounter.

"We had a lot of sore boys with corkies and it was just a very, very physical game. The Kangaroos are a very, very physical side," Clarkson said.

"They hit us with everything in the first quarter and to the credit of our guys, we regrouped at quarter-time and were able to offer a much better contest in the next three quarters.

Clarkson spoke of vice-captain Luke Hodge, key forward Tim Boyle and rookie Cameron Stokes as three players who suffered corks during the match.

"He [Stokes] and 'Hodgey' both got corkies and they'll be OK," Clarkson said.

"Hodgey's happened in the first five minutes of the game; that's why we were playing him up forward for the bulk of the game and 'Stokesy' … copped a knock to the side from the blindside, so they'll recover reasonably well over the course of this week and be ready to play again next week.

"'Boyley' just stood under the footy and copped a whole pack down on top of him, so he'll be alright too."

Young defender Tom Murphy also suffered a knock - concussion - after he was crunched by ex-Hawk Nathan Thompson during the third quarter. Clarkson singled out Murphy's effort after the match.

"He showed tremendous courage and copped a whack to the head and he was seeing stars for a little while, so he could take no further part in the game. He had a little trouble singing the song and remembering the words, but he's OK," Clarkson said.

Murphy left the field from the city side wing at Telstra Dome, rather than through the interchange area, which meant he could not play the rest of the match. Clarkson said it was a decision made by the club's medicos.

"I'm not privy to the discussions that they had, but I dare say they made a decision that he was going be unable to make a real influence on the contest for the rest of the game," Clarkson said.

"They made the call at that point in time to allow us to get a player on the interchange on the other side of the ground quickly, so that we wouldn't be running around with 17 men for too long."

Clarkson praised several of his charges including twin key forwards Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead. He was also delighted with the efforts of midfielders Brad Sewell and Jordan Lewis, who played his first match this season after serving a three-match suspension, which carried over from 2007.

"Sewell was outstanding. It was his second game in a row. He was terrific over in the west last week against Fremantle. He's our reigning best-and-fairest winner and he's a very, very important player to our side, Brad Sewell," Clarkson said.

"He [Lewis] had 30 touches, kicked a goal and had five clearances for us and we've really missed the flexibility with someone with his hard body running through the centre of the ground.

"It hasn't affected us in the win/loss [ratio], but he's a very, very important part of our midfield mix."

With Hawthorn now possessing strong depth, Clarkson was asked if sharp-shooter Mark Williams could still find a place in the line-up. There was no doubt in his response.

"That's a bit of a silly question isn't it? What do you think? I think Mark Williams will find his way into our side quite easily," Clarkson said.