Hawthorn suffered their first loss of the JLT series on Sunday, going down to the Kangaroos by 21 points.
While stand-in Senior Coach Cameron Bruce was disappointed not to get a win, he believes there were plenty of positives to take from the match particularly from recruits Ty Vickery, Jaeger O'Meara and Tom Mitchell.
"It was a good start, they were solid today.
"We've still got areas we would like them to get better at, and they're building relationships with a group of players they've just started playing with.
"It's very early on in the piece, and thankfully we've got some more time to develop those relationships.
"They will hopefully continue to get better and be really solid for us throughout the home and away season."