Hawthorn has started the Sam Mitchell era in style, defeating North Melbourne by 20 points at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.

With the Hawks fielding their youngest side since 2005, Jack Gunston and Mitch Lewis feasted on an undermanned and undersized North Melbourne defence to hand new coach Mitchell the perfect start to his career.

The Hawks overturned a 21-point deficit to run out 11.12 (78) to 8.10 (58) winners in what was a highly entertaining affair at a sun-baked MCG.

North Melbourne came out of the blocks hard, with Jy Simpkin goaling within the opening 30 seconds, before the Hawks’ Mitch Lewis booted his first of three goals to bring the game back on Hawthorn’s terms.

The Kangaroos fought back in the second quarter, but the Hawks wrestled back the momentum and kicked six unanswered goals across the second and third terms.

The Hawks were dominant in the third quarter, but failed to capitalise on the scoreboard, kicking three goals to one, as Lewis (three goals) and Gunston (three goals) continued to wreak havoc.

A Todd Goldstein goal brought the Roos back within one point of the Hawks early in the fourth quarter, but back-to-back goals from a longsleeve-clad Chad Wingard gave Hawthorn a big enough buffer to run out victors for the first win under Mitchell.

Exciting Hawks defender Changkuoth Jiath was arguably best afield. The 22-year-old gathered 24 disposals (at 83 per cent efficiency), took five marks, had nine intercept possessions and sent the ball inside 50 on three occasions.

The Hawks’ win is their fifth consecutive round one triumph, while the Roos have now posted just one victory from their past six opening encounters.

Hawks’ returning stars make mark, get through unscathed
It’s no stretch to suggest Hawthorn wouldn't have won the game without two of their best players in James Sicily and Jack Gunston. Playing his first game since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in the dying minutes against West Coast in August 2020, Sicily was sublime controlling the Hawks’ defence. He finished with 27 disposals, six marks and 538 metres gained. Gunston, meanwhile, who played just one game in 2021 after undergoing surgery to fix a bulging disc in his back in December 2020, threatened to tear the game apart. He took advantage of the Roos’ small defence, booting three goals four from 18 disposals.

Is Lewis set to deliver on his potential?
Taken with pick No. 76 in 2016 NAB AFL Draft, Mitch Lewis has promised plenty in his fledgling career. Ahead of Sunday’s clash against North, Lewis had returned 47 goals in 36 matches, which is far from horrible for a developing key forward. But the glimpses he has shown in some of those games, coupled with his size (he is 198cm) and athleticism, suggested he had so much more to give. Lewis was brilliant on Sunday, taking six marks and kicking two goals in the opening quarter, before finishing three goals and nine marks (six contested).