Trailing by 17 points at three-quarter time, the Hawks kicked six goals to one in the final term, winning 15.12 (102) to 13.8 (86) in front of 39,816 fans.
In the end the Roos had no answer to Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead. Franklin kicked five goals, including two in the final term while Roughead proved the perfect foil with four goals of his own after a quiet start.
It was a bitterly disappointing loss for the Roos, who led for much of the match courtesy of a monster 27-possession game from Brent Harvey, the defensive work of Michael Firrito and big games from Hamish McIntosh, Daniel Harris and Daniel Pratt.
Early on the signs were all good for last year’s preliminary finalists.
The first quarter was almost a mirror image of last year’s semi-final with the Roos’ attack on the ball, work-rate and some individual brilliance from Harvey causing all sorts of headaches for Hawthorn and its coach Alastair Clarkson.
Harvey’s 11 possessions and two goals to last week’s hero Corey Jones paved the way for a handy 21-point lead at the first change. If not for inaccuracy the margin could have been much greater.
Having left the door ajar, the Hawks, after a 10-minute arm wrestle to start the second term in which both sides scored two goals, burst back into the contest with the final four goals to close to within two points at half time.
The early match ups that had worked so well for the Roos began to come unstuck, with Franklin breaking the Josh Gibson shackles to kick two goals and Roughead, unsighted in the first term, adding two more opposed to Firrito.
Like Hawthorn in the first term the half-time siren could not come soon enough for the Roos, who had lost their run, poise and structure in the face of the Hawk comeback.
The break proved a godsend for Laidley and his men.
With time to regroup, reshuffle and rethink, and against the odds, North Melbourne steadied.
After the Hawks grabbed the lead for the first time courtesy of a Luke Hodge goal at the three-minute mark, the Roos set about snatching the momentum back with four of the third term’s final five goals to wrest back a handy lead at the final change.
After Matt Campbell and Brady Rawlings ran into open goals to signal the comeback was alive and well, Corey Jones added his third after a downfield free before livewire forward Lindsay Thomas produced goal of the day when he drilled a 50-metre bomb at full tilt from a tight angle.
Shannon Grant kept the pressure on with his second of the day at the 28-minute mark to help keep the Hawks at arms length.
What unfolded in the final 30 minutes was classic Australian football.
The Hawks closed to with three points with two quick goals, the Roos answered through Leigh Brown but minutes later again faced a three-point deficit after Michael Osborne drilled his third for the day.
Four minutes later Franklin kicked his fifth after a handpass from Cyril Rioli to put the side in front with four minutes remaining.
With the flow of play and weight of possession against it, the Roos needed a miracle.
They didn’t get one.
Roughead and Jordan Lewis sealed the deal with goals in the final two minutes to inflict a heartbreaking loss for a North Melbourne team that will rue the one that got away.
North Melbourne 4.6 7.7 12.8 13.8 (86)
Hawthorn 1.3 7.5 9.9 15.12 (102)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Jones 3, Brown 2, Grant 2, Campbell, Edwards, Hale, Rawlings, Thomas, N.Thompson
Hawthorn: Franklin 5, Roughead 4, Osborne 3, Hodge, Lewis, Sewell
BEST
North Melbourne: Harvey, McIntosh, Harris, Pratt, Jones, Grant
Hawthorn: Sewell, Bateman, Franklin, Lewis, Roughead, Osborne
INJURIES
North Melbourne: Harris (thumb)
Hawthorn: Boyle (corked buttock), Murphy (concussion), Stokes (corked thigh)
CHANGES
North Melbourne: McMahon replaced in selected side by Watt
Hawthorn: Nil
REPORTS
North Melbourne: Nil
Hawthorn: Nil
Umpires: Head, Ellis, Keating
Crowd: 39,816 at Telstra Dome
