Despite a second half fightback, North Melbourne has been defeated by 27 points against Hawthorn on Sunday.

After trailing by 50 points halfway through the third quarter, the Roos kicked five consecutive goals to close the term, narrowing the margin to 19 with a quarter to play.

But it would be the closest North was, with Jarryd Roughead’s goal early in the last term re-establishing a buffer the visitors were unable to overcome.

Hawthorn had kicked five goals in each of the first two quarters to build its lead, with the likes of Jack Gunston and Luke Hodge controlling proceedings from the back half of the ground.

Luke Breust (four goals) and Roughead (three) led the goalkicking for the Hawks, while Ben Brown kept his Coleman Medal chances alive with a three-goal haul.

Shaun Higgins was strong for the Kangaroos finishing with a season-high 31 possessions and five clearances, but he had too little help in the centre of the ground, especially once skipper Jack Ziebell was a late withdrawal from the side.

Kangaroos coach Brad Scott said he was pleased with the fight his side showed during the second half but lamented basic errors that cost them goals at various times during the match.

"We just need to keep working on the basics of the game with a different looking side," he said, going on to suggest the grit shown to fight back after half-time was particularly pleasing.

"You're almost thinking some of our young guys might turn it up a little bit, but they went the other and they got back on the front foot and kept attacking and kept the effort up around the contest and managed to kick five goals in a row that got us back in the game."

HAWTHORN 5.3 10.5 15.5 18.8 (116)

NORTH MELBOURNE 3.1 5.2 12.4 14.5 (89)

GOALS

Hawthorn: Breust 4, Roughead 3, Henderson 2, Smith 2, Burgoyne 2, Gunston, Hartung, McEvoy, Howe, Miles

North Melbourne: Brown 3, Zurhaar 2, Preuss 2, Garner 2, Turner, Atley, Higgins, Mountford, McDonald

BEST

Hawthorn: Gunston, Smith, Hodge, Mitchell, Breust, Roughead

North Melbourne: Higgins, Tarrant, Brown, Clarke, Preuss, Gibson

INJURIES

Hawthorn: Nil

North Melbourne: Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Hay, Findlay, Glouftsis

Official crowd: 14,509 at University of Tasmania Stadium