A short-handed North Melbourne VFLW side was on the wrong side of a 47-point margin on the weekend, falling to a strong Hawthorn side for the second time this season.

With North's AFLW-listed players taking a week off after a taxing campaign, the onus was placed on the Kangaroos' VFLW-listed talent to try and snatch victory from one of the top teams in the competition.

Hawthorn, who will be represented in AFLW for the first time next season, kicked away from the Kangaroos in the second half after a tight opening stanza.

VFLW senior coach Steph Binder says while the scoreboard wasn't pretty, there were plenty of positives to take from the performance.

"It was a really strong performance in the first half, we moved the ball really well and with that we were able to set up pretty well behind the ball when there was a turnover," Binder told North Media.

"After half-time Hawthorn hit us really hard and from that we went into our shells a little bit. We kept resorting to long kicks down the line instead of trying to open the game up, and our pressure just wasn't there to combat those turnovers. 

"It was a really good showing in the first half but the second half was almost like a different game and we let it slip away from us."

Two of North's top performers came in the middle of the ground, with Liz McGrath once again dominating the ruck while Annabel Scott was arguably the best player on the ground.

"Liz would have to be the No.1 ruck in VFLW, she's just spectacular. It's not only her tap-work but its her positioning around the ground. She gets a lot of intercept possessions for us and her ability to follow up and win ground balls and tackles is brilliant," Binder said.

"I absolutely love 'Scotty'. She's an absolute workhorse and her ability to get to every contest and be a real voice is such an asset. She's a really in and under player and then when she gets the ball in her hands she's always a player who's looking to open the game up.

"She really takes on everything we're teaching and she's working really hard on being proactive and improving her kicking efficiency, the work she puts in is amazing."

Captain Molly Eastman played her first game in royal blue and white since Round 3, with the skipper spending time on the sidelines with an ankle injury.

Since her last appearance for the club Eastman has been picked up by Sydney ahead of its first AFLW campaign. Binder says Eastman hasn't been distracted by the external noise and is still committed to producing her best football for North.

"Everyone was so proud of Molly for getting picked up by Sydney. She's been so committed and dedicated to North Melbourne its just so good to see her get some of that individual success," she said.

"To her credit she hasn't missed a beat with us the whole way through, she's tried to downplay the Sydney stuff and she's been really showing her leadership. To have her back out there playing for us on the weekend was really great."

The Kangaroos' task doesn't get any easier next week, as they take on the second-placed Bombers. Essendon has lost just one game so far this season and has an eye-watering percentage of over 400.

Binder says she wants her team to back themselves in against another high-quality opponent.

"It's hard when we've come up against such good opposition and the girls aren't necessarily getting reward for all their efforts. We want to be a really resilient team and the fact we can play a really good half of footy against an incredibly good team, we have to take confidence from that," she said.

"A lot of it comes down to believing we are good enough, because when we are playing confidently we look really good, and when the momentum shifts and we go into our shell a bit that's when we really struggle. 

"We have to get that performance mindset right and be able to get back to what we're good at. We really want the girls to respond this week."

HAWTHORN 8.9 (57)
NORTH MELBOURNE 1.4 (10)

Best of VFLW-listed

Annabel Scott: 23 disposals, four marks, six tackles, three clearances
Liz McGrath: 17 disposals, two tackles, 26 hitouts, seven clearances
Sarah Skinner: 16 disposals, four clearances
Jess Mourney: 18 disposals, three tackles
Emily Paterno: 10 disposals, one goal, four marks, three tackles