NORTH Melbourne ruckman Hamish McIntosh says his side can't afford to dwell on yesterday's heartbreaking loss to Hawthorn despite admitting it was a game it probably should have won.

Leading by three goals at three-quarter time, the Roos were overrun in the final term as the Hawks slammed on six goals to one to win by 16 points.

Despite the loss, the 23-year-old said the positives far outweighed the negatives.

"It was a tight tussle all day and a few contests here or there could have gone differently and while we lost I thought there were a lot of positives to come from it," he said.

"The key now is to take them into next week."

North Melbourne takes on last-placed Melbourne at the MCG in what shapes as a must-win if the side is to replicate its finals appearance last season.

McIntosh said the players learned one valuable lesson from its loss to the Hawks.

"We played some good footy against Hawthorn which is a top side and we showed we can match it with the best," he said.

The young ruckman rued missed opportunities early in the game that proved costly at the death. The Roos had 10 shots at goals to four in the opening term but led by only 21 points. By half time the margin had been cut to two.

A philosophical McIntosh said there was no reason to panic despite his side sitting outside the eight with a 1-2 record.

"It's a long season and obviously we are disappointed with the loss, but it's only round three and you can't dwell on it too much," he said.

"We've got 19 games to go so we take the positives out of this game, have a look at the negatives during the week and I'm sure we'll bounce back next week against Melbourne."

On his own form, the emerging star said there was plenty of room for improvement.

He had 18 possessions, took 10 marks, including three contested, and had 22 hit outs against Hawk duo Robert Campbell and Simon Taylor.

"I was a bit disappointed with a couple of decision-making errors I made in the last quarter but other than that I was reasonably happy," he said.

He would have been much happier to get the points.