There's no way to sugarcoat what was ultimately a disappointing loss, and perhaps Jaeger O'Meara described it best when he labelled Saturday's loss to North Melbourne as "embarrassing".

O'Meara omitted he was embarrassed for his role in the midfield brigade who were comprehensively beaten in the middle of the ground, finishing with eight less centre clearances than North (10-18), and 20 less clearances (29-49).

Coach Alastair Clarkson also highlighted this as an area of concern, lamenting the quality of clearances Hawthorn allowed its opposition to take advantage of.

"We need to get tougher and harder and stronger around the ball," Clarkson said in his post-match press conference.

"Sometimes it's not just about the number itself, but about the quality of the clearance.

"They were able to get a lot of ground from their clearances and were able to put our defence under a lot of pressure.

"That's the difficult thing for our boys to have to swallow, but there's only one way forward.

"That's to keep turning up to training, keep working hard and we'll find a way to improve."

Watch Clarkson's full post match presser below.