Hawthorn Coach Sam Mitchell said there were several “positive signs” to take away from his side’s 48-point win against North Melbourne on Sunday.

After three straight losses following the bye break, Mitchell’s men were able to return to the winners list, making it four victories in a row against the Kangaroos.

However, the coach acknowledged his side’s inaccurate start to the game after his forwards struggled to convert early from their opportunities, kicking 3.13 by half time.

“There were lots of positive signs, but I find myself being a little bit disappointed that we couldn’t put more scores on the board,” Mitchell said.

“We had 70 inside 50s… so we should be more potent going forward, which has been a bit of a problem in the last couple of weeks.

“We played a game style that stood up against them and we were able to execute it a bit better than we’ve been able to do in the past.

“There were a lot of steps in the right direction, but I still thought we left some positivity out there.”

With pressure mounting on the Hawks following an inaccurate first half, Mitch Lewis was able to kick back-to-back goals early in the third to give his side the confidence they needed.

The 24-year-old finished with three majors for the day to put his tally up to 27 goals from 11 games this year.

“I was pleased that Mitch had a shot from not very far with a lot of pressure on him, and nails it,” Mitchell said.

“But more importantly then had another shot from 50 metres a minute later and goes back and hits it too.

“In terms of the leadership of our group and the growth we’re trying to produce, that was a key moment. I was rapt Mitch was able to do that.”

Mitchell noted several other individuals who stood out on the day, including James Worpel who finished with a monster 32 disposals.

“Worps is great example of persistence,” Mitchell said.

“The level of motivation he’s shown year after year has been so consistent, and at some point, he was going to get rewarded for all that effort.

“His worked so hard for so long and now he’s great to see him getting some benefit.”

After putting the clamps on GWS star Josh Kelly last week, Finn Maginness again assumed his tagging role in impressive fashion.

“Both Finn and Worps are stories I’ll be telling the rest of our players,” Mitchell added.

“Finn’s fantastic, he’s one that works so hard on his game, even when he was at Box Hill he couldn’t be doing a lot more.

“But now he’s come in and taken his opportunity. He went to Tarryn Thomas who can be a bit of a match-winner and then on Harry Sheezel who was getting a bit out of hand, and I thought he did well.

“He then played on the wing and got involved himself which was good to see.”

Mitchell also made mention to the work of his backline men who stood tall.

“I thought a lot of our defenders did well today, Blake Hardwick was fantastic,” Mitchell said.

“No one ever talks about him, but he’s a match up that no one would ever want. He always gets the job done.

“Frosty was on Nick Larkey who kicked 44 goals for the year so far and then only kicked one for the afternoon. He well and truly did his job on him.

“When Frosty is playing his best, we look our best behind the ball. Every time he went near the ball something good happened. It was great to have him playing at his best.”

Hear more from Mitchell following the win.