Gun North Melbourne midfielder Luke Davies-Uniacke was a late withdrawal from Saturday's team to face Hawthorn due to a calf corkie suffered in last week's epic win over Fremantle.

His absence at the coalface was notable, as was co-captain Jy Simpkin's due to a one-match suspension, as the Hawks won by 19 points.

Hawthorn had significantly more possession, winning the disposal count 424-342, including a lopsided 290-208 count in uncontested possessions.

Kangaroos senior coach Alastair Clarkson said it was an "easy call" to take a no-risk approach with Davies-Uniacke.

"He got a corkie in his calf from last week's game," Clarkson said.

"He trained on Thursday but just when he was warming up today he just didn't feel right.

"He's an important player for us and we just don't want to take a risk with him. We ummed and ahhed about whether he'd hobble around and try do what he needs to do not at his best physically. But we're in this for the long game, not the short game.

"It's tough when you've been best on ground in the first two rounds of the season. It ended up being an easy call, 'Let's not worry about and see if we can get him up for next week'."

HAWKS v KANGAROOS Full match coverage and stats

Clarkson had admitted in the lead-up to the clash against his former side that it would be "strange" taking on familiar faces, but said the Kangaroos treated it like any other game.

"It's only because it's something that's driven by the environment outside your footy club," he said.

"Inside the footy club it's not even mentioned. It's a spectacular thing for everyone outside the club. We just kept things as normal as we possibly could."

North trailed by 25 points at half-time, but rallied back within a kick after Cam Zurhaar's goal midway through the fourth quarter, before majors from Tyler Brockman and Dylan Moore sealed the win for the Hawks.