NORTH Melbourne's ability to pull out a great performance against the odds has become one of modern football's great cliches — but one that remains apt after yet another unexpected triumph over Hawthorn yesterday.

The Kangaroos had been flogged by Fremantle last week, their third loss in a row, had slipped from the eight and made half-a-dozen changes at selection. The Hawks were in second spot having lost one game, and on a high after snatching another victory in Adelaide.

It could have been the recipe for another belting. But, not for the first time in Arden Street history, it was instead the ingredients for a win which temporarily restored the Kangaroos' position in the eight, and a lot of the pride which had been stripped away against the Dockers.

True, the Roos looked stronger for the inclusions of the experienced Nathan Thompson, Shannon Grant, Corey Jones and Shannon Watt. But it was within the first 15 minutes you knew that Dean Laidley's side, unlike last week, was clearly "on".

They harassed, hassled and hustled the Hawks for 120 minutes. At least twice, they stopped what was looming as a Hawthorn run-on in its tracks. And then they drove their edge home with five of the first six goals of the last quarter — three of them to the game-breaking Lindsay Thomas, who did what the Hawks, who finished with a wasteful 10.16, simply couldn't: he kicked goals.

The Roos had two huge midfield winners in Daniel Harris and Brent Harvey, with 63 disposals between them. They had disciplined and effective defenders in Josh Gibson and Watt on the potentially lethal Hawk forward pair of Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead. And they had Thomas and Grant up forward to capitalise on all that hard work.

Which is what Hawthorn didn't do, despite the prolific ball-winning of Sam Mitchell, who ended up with 38 disposals, the impressive Jarryd Morton, who had 33, and the brilliant Luke Hodge, with 20 touches and three classy goals to his name.

The Hawks might be the most consistently effective kicks in the competition, but they had an off day yesterday, around the ground and especially near goal, where Roughead finished with 2.5 and Franklin 1.3. They missed at critical moments, too, Mitchell and Mark Williams off target in quick succession just after half-time, misses to Roughead and Tim Boyle then a Franklin miss from just 20 metres midway through the final term the final nail in the coffin.

Hawthorn ended up with more disposals, more handball receives, more hardball gets, more hitouts, more inside-50s and practically broke even on the clearance count. But the one stat in which it didn't want to lead the way was behinds.

Neither did it need the sort of listless start to the game that is becoming a habit, having now won one of its last six first quarters.

The Roos kicked the first two yesterday — Matt Campbell opening the ledger after Thompson wrapped Stephen Gilham up in a tackle near goal, the spills ending with Harvey, who popped a simple handball over the top for an easy conversion. It was two when Grant pinned Grant Birchall 20 metres out.

Hawthorn finally got on the board a minute later, courtesy of a Mitchell snap. Finally, the giant had awoken, Hawthorn starting to attack relentlessly, its next goal coming after the Roos had been pinned in their back-pocket, Watt trapped holding the ball by Hodge. It was a tight angle for a left-footer, but Hodge calmly checksided the goal.

When Franklin bounced another typically inventive goal through from a forward pocket early in the second term, you sensed the momentum was building. Wrong again, as the Roos kicked three of the next four.

They did it again to open the second half — a burst of three goals when you expected Hawthorn to come out firing. And again at the opening of the final quarter, after Hawthorn had kicked the last two goals of the third quarter.

Sure, that backs-to-the-wall "Shinboner Spirit" is real hackneyed stuff. But it works time and again for North Melbourne. And the Roos won't be turning their noses up at a formulaic storyline if it continues to deliver results like yesterday's.

NORTH MELBOURNE 2.4 7.8 10.10 15.13 (103)
HAWTHORN 2.3 5.8 7.12 10.16 (76)

GOALS North Melbourne: Thomas 4, Grant 3, Campbell 2, Jones 2, Harris, Thompson, Harvey, Wells. Hawthorn: Hodge 3, Roughead 2, Williams 2, Boyle, Franklin, Mitchell.

BEST North Melbourne: Harris, Harvey, Petrie, Thomas, Gibson, Watt, Wells. Hawthorn: Mitchell, Hodge, Morton, Guerra, Dew, Roughead.

INJURIES Hawthorn: Clarke (corked quad) replaced in selected side by Tuck.

UMPIRES Ellis, McInerney, K Nicholls.

CROWD 42,508 at MCG.

THE UPSHOT The Hawks will regroup for Friday night's clash with West Coast, while the Kangaroos will draw enormous confidence from an important win against quality opposition. Ahead of next week's match against St Kilda on the Gold Coast, yesterday's gutsy win, and the return of some big names, has left the Roos pushing for a top-eight finish.

TALKING POINT A week on the sidelines and the unqualified support of his coach turned out to be just the tonic for Shannon Grant, who returned from a rest last week to be among the Kangaroos' most useful contributors. His 14 disposals, six marks and three goals brought a smile to Dean Laidley's face in his post-match press conference. Asked about Grant's performance, Laidley said: "Shannon Grant, touche."

HOT AND COLD Lindsay Thomas had collected seven touches at the final break, but his three final-term goals and four for the match was the icing on a very sweet day for the Kangaroos. The 20-year-old's 13th game for the club underlined the arrival of a genuine talent who enjoys the big stage. Hawthorn's goal-kicking star Lance Franklin misfired and finished with 1.3 from his 10 disposals.