HAWTHORN star Lance Franklin turned in a strong performance from the wing in his team's NAB Cup win over North Melbourne on Friday night, but coach Alastair Clarkson says the dual Coleman medallist won't be moved from the forward line "too often" this season.

Franklin collected 11 disposals, delivered the ball inside forward 50 four times, and still managed one goal against the Kangaroos.

He then returned to his customary forward role in the Hawks' second game against Richmond, booting three goals.

The midfield move gave Clarkson a chance to experiment with other forward options, with Ryan Schoenmakers playing out of the goalsquare and recruit Jack Gunston presenting strongly.

"At different stages we've become a little bit too one-dimensional with 'Buddy' as a key target down forward, so it was good, particularly early in the game against the Kangaroos, that we kicked five quick goals," Clarkson said.

"It just shows that Buddy doesn't need to be the key target in our forward line for us to kick a winning score.

"And he's such a beautiful kick of the footy, so he's going to be able to set up some things through the middle of the ground from time-to-time as well.

"But we'll just see how it all plays out through the course of the year.

"He's a very, very talented forward for us, so it's not like we're going to take him away from that area of the ground too often."

The Hawks finished the night with one win and one loss, beating North Melbourne by 25 points before going down to the Tigers by three points.

"We were a bit rusty," Clarkson said.

"We did some good things interspersed with some pretty scratchy things, especially late in the game when we fatigued a little bit.

"But there were some encouraging signs, and really it's just about getting a lot of game time into our players at this point in the pre-season."

Clarkson said Stephen Gilham and Jarryd Roughead, both on the comeback trail from serious injuries, trained "very, very well" on Friday morning and could be given some game time in the lead-up to the home and away season.

The Hawks will travel to Launceston to face Greater Western Sydney in round two of the NAB Cup.

Mark Macgugan covers Hawks news for afl.com.au and hawthornfc.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_MarkM.