North Melbourne   4.4   10.8   14.9    15.13   (103)                  
Hawthorn   4.2     8.7   15.10  17.15   (117)          

Goals: North Melbourne: Black 2, Goldstein 2, Ziebell 2, Bastinac 2, Wright, Wells, Jacobs, Thomas, Harvey, Mullett, Macmillan
Hawthorn: Franklin 5, Roughead 4, Breust 3, Rioli 2, Smith, Hill, Hale

Best: North Melbourne: Wells, Cunnington, Wright, Harvey, Ziebell, Goldstein
Hawthorn: Hodge, Mitchell, Franklin, Roughead, Lake, Rioli, Stratton, Smith

For the second time this season against the Kangaroos, Hawthorn stole victory to sew up a top two finish and a home final in week one of the 2013 finals series.

For the most part, the Hawks were on the back foot against a determined North Melbourne whose ability to take the game on and run through the middle troubled Hawthorn.

Ultimately, it was the stars of Hawthorn who came to the fore and led the team to victory by 14 points at Etihad Stadium.

Why North had the advantage

On two occasions, North Melbourne looked like they’d break the game open and storm to a six goal advantage on Saturday because of their spread and willingness to roll the dice and take the game on.

In the opening term, the Kangaroos led by 17 points on the back of four consecutive goals and in the second, led by 26 points also on the back of four consecutive goals only to be twice chased down by a Hawthorn side able to just stay in touch.

The Roos troubled Hawthorn as they did in Round 5 with their spread, arguably outplaying the Hawks at their own game.

Hawthorn is one of the best at generating uncontested possessions and working the ball into space, but in the opening half of Saturday’s game, it was North Melbourne doing the damage on the outside while restricting Hawthorn’s ability to use its run.

North Melbourne led the uncontested possessions 42-63 at quarter time and a massive 85-142 at half time – the second term was where they inflicted the most damage, kicking 6.4 to 4.5 to lead by 13 points at the main break.

Their spread hurt the Hawks because they won the ball in close too, leading the contested possessions 54-72 at half time and used the footy better because of their ability to release into space.

North Melbourne’s disposal efficiency was 77.3 at half time compared to Hawthorn’s 71.7 (up from 67.6 at quarter time) and also had more effective kicks – 50-81.

How the Hawks stayed in touch

It is a sign of a good side when you’re not having the best of days, but are able to keep in touch and that’s what Hawthorn did on Saturday.

When the Kangaroos broke away to a three or four goal lead twice, twice the big guns of Hawthorn stepped up to keep the scoreboard pressure on.

When trailing by 17 at the 17-minute mark of the opening term, Jarryd Roughead (two goals) and Lance Franklin (one) were able to draw the Hawks back to within two points at the first change.

Then, when 26 points behind just under nine minutes into the second, the Hawks were able to isolate Franklin inside 50 and allow him to go one-on-one with an undersized Michael Firrito.

That proved a masterstroke that would allow the Hawks to be closer than they probably should have been at half time, as Franklin goaled twice to keep the Hawks in touch.

In the second term, the Hawkls actually only had 11 inside 50s but scored nine times for a return of 4.5. Their ability to make use of the limited opportunities held it in good stead for the second half and probably gave the coaching staff comfort that in finals, the team can score from limited chances.

Individual brilliance

You often hear about x-factor and how important players with the ability to spark a team are, and that was evident on Saturday.

Three players sparked Hawthorn into action in the third team and ultimately led them to victory by wrestling back the advantage and pouring on insurmountable pressure to the Roos.

First, it was inspirational skipper Luke Hodge across half back. He got the clearance on the wing from a boundary throw in after North had responded to Roughead’s opening-minute goal in the third that catapulted the Hawks forward and ended in a brilliant Cyril Rioli snap.

Then only a few minutes later, he willed himself to a marking contest and made a brilliant spoil on Drew Petrie that was swept away by Sam Mitchell – the first possession in a chain that would lead to a Luke Breust goal.

Then it was Lance Franklin. As he’d done all day, it fought to keep the ball alive inside 50. Up against two opponents, he brought the ball to ground for Roughead to pounce on. Then he followed it up by snatching it from Firrito, getting his arms clear in a strong tackle to release Isaac Smith to goal.

Two minutes later, he kicked a crucial goal from 50 on a tight angle to give his team the lead and all the momentum.

Then up stepped Cyril Rioli. After Franklin put the Hawks in front, Mitchell got the clearance and sent the Hawks inside 50. Rioli couldn’t take the mark but turned on a 5c piece, somehow kept control of the ball as he was falling to the ground but still moving forward, then he forced a high tackle that wasn’t paid, was taken down but somehow handed to Gunston who found Hill who goaled to put the Hawks seven points in front, never to surrender the lead.

Second half turnaround

North Melbourne again walked away from a game against Hawthorn feeling like they’d let it slip, but the story out of the game for the Hawks was their ability to generate their own spark, their own momentum when their opposition didn’t allow it to play their game.

In the second half, Hodge, Franklin and Rioli, along with Isaac Smith, Grant Birchall and Sam Mitchell poured pressure over North and were the reasons why the Hawks could, play their style of footy in the second half.

In the third term alone, the Hawks had 60 uncontested possessions, only 25 less than its 85 in the first half.

They finished the game with 204 – actually winning the stat in the second half by two – 119-117 uncontested possessions in the second half.

The Hawks also won the contested possession in the second half, 74-59.

From their dominance in those two areas stemmed a smashing of North in the inside 50s in the second half too. The Hawks conceded only 15 inside 50s in the second half, and had 29 of their own.

From those entries, the Hawks kicked nine second half goals to five to run away with a 14 point win and a home final in week one.

What the coaches said

Hawthorn’s Alastair Clarkson: "I said during the week – it seems bizarre saying it and many people don't believe it when you say it – (but) we need to play at our very, very best this week to get the points against the Kangaroos. 

"We've got a lot of regard for the way they go about it and a lot of regard for the way they play this stadium, and we knew that if we weren't quite on our game that they would just cut you to pieces with their ball use and they did that in the first half. 

"But to the credit of our guys we just corrected a few things at half-time and got a little bit more control of the contest in the second half."

North Melbourne’s Brad Scott: “It's incredibly frustrating because we put ourselves in a winning position. I thought we did enough to win the game. Again, it's twice in a row against Hawthorn that we've won the inside 50 count.

"But we're not going to be the side we want to be unless we are more focussed on playing our way for the entire game. And there were times today when we went away from what makes us a good side and you end up with the result (we got)."