HAWTHORN coach Sam Mitchell lauded his players' resilience after a tough week of media criticism ended in victory.

The Hawks were heavily criticised during the week following defeats by 81 points to Sydney and 59 points to Essendon to open the season, having finished 13th last year with an 8-14 record.

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Some critics went so far as to accuse Hawthorn of a form of tanking with its list management, having allowed the likes of Tom Mitchell, Jack Gunston and Jaeger O'Meara to depart in the off-season.

But Mitchell's side bounced back from that with a 19-point win over North Melbourne in Launceston on Saturday to claim its first points of the 2023 season.

"I’m really proud of the resilience of the group – not just across the two hours of the game but across the week," Mitchell said.

"We had a tough week. People thought we would perhaps never win a game ever again. The players deserved some reward for effort and they got a bit of that today."

Mitchell said the criticism of the club was not discussed internally, instead insisting it is focused on a long-term journey.

"We didn't talk about it at all," he said. "Players know what's happening in the football world. It can be a bit all encompassing ... To persist and know we're going about it in the right way, the way that they delivered the week, the way we trained, the energy that we brought to the game, I thought we deserved to win the game.

"We're on a long process and today was a step in the right direction. We're going to continue to make sure we can put strong performances together. Today was a little bit more of a forward step than we've had over the last two weeks."

The match-up also pitted Mitchell against former mentor Alastair Clarkson for the first time, with the 17-year Hawks coach taking over at North Melbourne in the off-season after a year out of the game, with Hawthorn having initiated its succession plan at the end of 2021.

Clarkson had admitted in the lead-up to the clash that it would be "strange" taking on familiar faces, but said the Kangaroos treated it like any other game.

"It's only because it's something that's driven by the environment outside your footy club," he said. "Inside the footy club it's not even mentioned. It's a spectacular thing for everyone outside the club. We just kept things as normal as we possibly could."

North trailed by 25 points at half-time, but rallied back within a kick after Cam Zurhaar's goal midway through the fourth quarter, before majors from Tyler Brockman and Dylan Moore sealed the win for the Hawks.

The Hawks had significantly more possession, winning the disposal count 424-342, including a lopsided 290-208 count in uncontested possessions, but the Roos were not helped by the late withdrawal of in-form midfielder Luke Davies-Uniacke with calf tightness, joining co-captain Jy Simpkin (suspension) on the sidelines.

"He got a corkie in his calf from last week's game," Clarkson said about Davies-Uniacke. "He trained on Thursday but just when he was warming up today he just didn't feel right.

"He's an important player for us and we just don't want to take a risk with him. We ummed and ahhed about whether he'd hobble around and try do what he needs to do not at his best physically. But we're in this for the long game, not the short game.

"It's tough when you've been best on ground in the first two rounds of the season. It ended up being an easy call, 'Let's not worry about and see if we can get him up for next week'."

Mitchell reserved special praise for Will Day, who amassed a game-high 29 disposals, four tackles and 11 marks with five clearances, showing toughness after being on the wrong end of a heavy Griffin Logue bump that may attract MRO attention.

"Because of his physique we always look at his composure but he's actually really tough," Mitchell said. "He got hit today quite a few times hard and just bounces up and it doesn't affect him. He continues to play the right way.

"We were able to use him in several roles which really helped the game. He's an important player for us."

The Hawks coach also praised livewire small forward Tyler Brockman, who kicked three goals with seven score involvements in his first AFL game since 2021 after an injury-ruined 2022.

Mitchell was delighted with his impact in a forward line missing injured pair Mitch Lewis (knee) and Chad Wingard (calf), while Jacob Koschitzke was dropped after going goalless in the first two rounds.

"I was rapt for 'Brocky', he is such a loveable lad, he's got one of those infectious smiles," he said. "With our forward line, we were looking for ways to score, we really struggled to score in the first two weeks.

"Bringing someone as dynamic and exciting as 'Brocky' in, he builds the spirit. It creates energy within the group. It's a great script."