After a hard-fought victory, it would be hard to find a group of men more proud of the win than the 22 North players who secured the win on Sunday afternoon.

The pride was evident in their media appearances following the match, with most noting the outstanding resilience shown by the group in the second half.

Ben Cunnington - Channel 7

“We’ve got a pretty courageous group here. Even the young fellas just coming in are cracking in, they’re just doing their bit, the intensity and everything is unreal. To be two down and hang on is a super effort.”

Ben Brown - 3AW

“Previously we would have fallen over at the final hurdle, but to be able to hold steady in the last 15 to 20 minutes of the game, and put the icing on the cake with a couple of goals was really good. It shows we’re building a bit of resolve as a team.”

Jack Ziebell believes that by securing the win despite having two less men for much of the second half, the group will take a great amount of confidence from the match.

Jack Ziebell - Media conference

“It’s important to get a win like that. It’s more important to show the team that we can compete with the best.

“To really challenge a good side in Hawthorn ... and to play the way that we wanted to play, put a plan in place and execute it as well as we did, was great for our confidence.”

Watch the full media conference HERE.

Robbie Tarrant - Channel 7

“We were lucky to kick a couple of goals late to give us a breather. It was quality, first half especially, and we’ll no doubt learn some things from the second half.”

The relatively new-look dynamic forwardline received strong praise from the leading goalkicker of 2018, Ben Brown, who is relishing the opportunity to play alongside the skipper.

Ben Brown - 3AW

“Ziebell is an outstanding contested ball player, and not many blokes get past him when he tries to tackle you. He’s been brilliant to have down there.

“Obviously he’s a gun midfielder, but to have him in the forwardline definitely makes us better.

“I think Jarrad Waite had about eight shots at goal today and was outstanding.

“When Waitey’s on-song it makes it easier for me and when we’ve got a couple of different forward targets firing, it makes us a better team.”

Commentators believe Ben Jacobs claimed another scalp on the weekend, with Tom Mitchell restricted to just 19 disposals.

The tagger provided some insight into the process before each game. 

Ben Jacobs - ABC Grandstand

“It’s been the same for a couple of years. I watch a lot of vision and obviously each game changes from week-to-week.

“It depends on what the strength of the opposition player is and what we want to do as team because it’s team-first footy first and foremost.

“I just go through it and work on where I need to nullify them in the vital part of quarters, and then blend into team defence.

“I usually don’t ask until the main session.

I’m usually watching the other games on the weekend and seeing who I might go to the week after. Sometimes it’s very late, there’s usually two they come to me with.

“Today I may have gone to Jaeger if he got off the chain, just depending on how the game unfolded.”