NORTH Melbourne has staged a stirring comeback to defeat reigning premier Hawthorn by 13 points in an entertaining contest at Shepparton's Deakin Reserve on Sunday.
Both sides would have been happy with their performances which were considerably better than their round one NAB Challenge losses, but both came out of the game with concerns.
North's win was soured by the report of recruit Jarrad Waite on a striking charge, while the Hawks will be sweating on the fitness of wingman Isaac Smith after he copped an accidental kick to his left calf in the third quarter.
Waite was reported in the second quarter after he collected Hawks defender Ben Stratton in the head with an attempted spoil.
Stratton was able to get up without assistance and take a free kick.
After his injury, Smith spent the rest of the game on the interchange bench with ice on his leg.
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The Hawks jumped out to a four-goal lead at quarter-time after holding a sloppy North outfit goalless.
However, the Roos fought back well from there to hit the front in the third quarter.
The Hawks went into three-quarter time in front thanks to two late goals to David Hale and maintained their lead until a Lindsay Thomas super goal at the 20-minute mark of the final term put the Roos in front.
Ryan Bastinac sealed the game for the Roos a couple of minutes later with a snapped goal.
"There was a pretty strong wind going one way and we were kicking into it. Other than the ball handling and turnovers [the first quarter] wasn't too bad considering," Scott said.
"But there's a lot of rust playing your first game and I'm also really aware that Hawthorn had a heap of guys playing their first game.
"We thought in the first half last week our guys were very, very rusty, so we certainly treated it as a game to get match time against really good opposition.
"It is difficult to try to balance the game time first and foremost. As a team we're jelling a bit better."
Stand-in Hawthorn coach Cameron Bruce said the result showed the Hawks had been "a little bit rustier" than North.
"To be beaten in clearances and the contested possession are good indicators of good ball handling, it just showed that our guys will be better off for it," Bruce said.
"We're not concerned about getting overrun. We had our chances in that last quarter. The inside 50s I think we were 14-5 at some stage so we didn't make the most of our chances early on and they got some goals late.
"So I'm still reasonably confident that we've got the fitness to run out a good game, especially considering the amount of guys [who were playing] their first game."
North skipper Andrew Swallow, Jack Ziebell and Ben Cunnington led the way for the Roos in the midfield, while Sam Wright and Michael Firrito were solid in defence.
The reigning premiers would have been pleased with James Frawley's improved performance in defence after his lacklustre debut against Collingwood in Launceston.
Old stagers Jordan Lewis, Josh Gibson and Sam Mitchell were the Hawks' best players.
WHAT WE LEARNED
North Melbourne: North's commitment and tough inside edge at stoppages can't be questioned but the Roos almost cost themselves the game in the first term with a spate of turnovers. If it is going to build on its preliminary final appearance of 2014, North has to clean up this area of its game.
Hawthorn: The Hawks were unhappy with their opening NAB Challenge game against Collingwood but showed against the Roos – as expected – that they will again be right up there in 2015. And with new faces like Jed Anderson and Jono O'Rourke the Hawks should be able to inject the new blood history suggests they'll need to win their third premiership in a row.
NEW FACES
North Melbourne: Mason Wood kicked three goals on his AFL debut against Melbourne last year and again impressed against the Hawks. The one-gamer enjoyed a good second quarter, taking a strong mark inside North's forward 50. He missed that set shot but bounced back with a clinical conversion from 35m out a few minutes later. Wood also spent some time on the wing and did enough to suggest he will play more senior football this year.
Hawthorn: Boom recruit James Frawley looked much more composed with Brian Lake and Josh Gibson in support in defence, while former Giant Jono O'Rourke showed promise through the midfield and kicked two goals. Nineteen-year-old defender Daniel Howe took an impressive contested mark in Hawthorn's defensive 50 early in the game but struggled with the pace of senior football at times. Young ruckman Marc Pittonet came on in the last quarter but had limited opportunities.
Lindsay Thomas kicks one of his three goals against Hawthorn. Picture: AFL Media
NORTH MELBOURNE 0.0.3 1.4.7 1.6.10 2.9.13 (85)
HAWTHORN 0.4.3 0.7.3 1.8.6 1.9.9 (72)
SUPERGOALS
North Melbourne: Harvey, Thomas
Hawthorn: Gibson
GOALS
North Melbourne: Thomas 2, Cunnington, Goldstein, Wood, Waite, Swallow
Hawthorn: Hale 2, Gunston 2, O'Rourke 2, Suckling, Breust, Hill,
BEST
North Melbourne: Swallow, Ziebell, Firrito, Cunnington, Wright, Bastinac
Hawthorn: Mitchell, Gibson, Lewis, Stratton, Lake, Hill
INJURIES
North Melbourne: Nil
Hawthorn: Smith (leg)
SUBSTITUTES
North Melbourne: Ben Brown replaced Drew Petrie in the third quarter; Majak Daw replaced Jarrad Waite in the third quarter.
Hawthorn: Alex Woodward replaced Cyril Rioli at half-time; Marc Pittonet replaced Luke Hodge in the fourth quarter.
Reports: Jarrad Waite (North Melbourne) reported for striking Ben Stratton (Hawthorn) in the second quarter
Umpires: Pannell, Hosking, Rosebury, Foot
Official crowd: 7591 at Deakin Reserve, Shepparton
