AN INABILITY to win clean possession and a forward line that remains a work in progress are the two primary concerns for North Melbourne coach Brad Scott after his side's 65-point NAB Challenge loss to Hawthorn at Aurora Stadium on Friday night.
Because it was a practice match, Scott didn’t read the riot act to his players afterwards, but the game was as good as over by quarter-time when the Hawks held a five-goal lead.
"We couldn’t get our hands on the ball and we were thoroughly beaten at the contest," Scott said. "We just couldn’t get into the contest."
"We couldn’t get our hands on the ball and that's never good no matter the contest or what the stage of the season it's at.
"It's disappointing because I consider that a strength, particularly of our inside players."
Scott said he was impressed with the slick performance of the Hawks, who are a month behind the Kangaroos with their preparation.
He said he hoped it wasn’t a case of his players being in practice match mode, saying the players approached the game with the right sort of intensity.
His forward line issues need resolving and Scott admitted he was still searching for the right mix of size and strength close to goal. "I would have liked to have had the right answer by now, but I don’t," he said.
Aaron Black chimed in with three goals and was clearly North's only effective forward. Daniel Currie, Majak Daw and Drew Petrie also played up forward, but with little effect, although as Scott acknowledged, having only 35 inside 50s was always going to make life difficult for those charged with kicking goals.
Conversely, it was the performance of the Hawthorn backline that most pleased assistant coach Brendan Bolton, who took charge of the side for the match.
The Hawks went in without Brian Lake, Grant Birchall, Ben Stratton and Ryan Schoenmakers, leaving skipper Luke Hodge to stand Currie for much of the first half and Kyle Cheney, who stood Petrie despite conceding 10 centimetres in height.
"Cheney did a really quality job on a good forward. But the main thing is it's a system, the back six or seven working together and over time you build synergy," he said.
"The NAB Challenge is about experimenting and sometimes things bob up that you can use during the year.
Bolton said there was little for the Hawks to complain about so far.
"We've been really impressed with our guys, how selfless they've been and how they're sharing it around," he said.
"If you want to be an elite team, you have to practice it in the NAB Challenge and we want to refine our game plan. We're pleased but we're never satisfied."
He added that the Hawks were pleased with their depth as players such as Will Langford, Tim O'Brien and Derick Wanganeen stake their claim.
"What it does give us is flexibility. You know with our team we love guys to play in multiple positions," he said.
Langford kicked three goals while tagging Jack Ziebell, while O'Brien also kicked three goals in what was his best game for the club since being drafted in the first round at the end of 2012.
