North Melbourne coach Brad Scott is certain his team are on the right track, even if their win-loss record this season is way off course.

They went agonisingly close to beating favourites Hawthorn on Sunday at the MCG, but the brutal fact is the three-point loss leaves them in early trouble at 1-4.

It was a much better performance from the Kangaroos, whose three previous losses this season were punctuated by costly fadeouts.

This was a solid, four-quarter effort that just lacked a little polish.

“We’re not going to adopt a loser mentality of being happy with honourable losses, far from it,” Scott said.

“We came here to win, we gave ourselves an opportunity to win and we didn’t take it.

“So we have to fix those things really quickly.

“But as for my confidence in the direction we’re going, I’ve never been more confident.”

Lindsay Thomas kicked five goals and incredibly leads the Coleman Medal, while midfielders Daniel Wells and Andrew Swallow were outstanding.

Key defender Scott Thompson restricted Lance Franklin to five behinds, a great result after the Hawks star kicked 13 goals against the Kangaroos in a match last season.

“I can’t be glowing enough in my praise for Scotty Thompson,” Scott said.

North had plenty of chances in the last few minutes to regain the lead, but could only manage 1.4 and another shot that went out on the full.

While they did not make the most of their chances, Scott noted Majak Daw was playing his second AFL match and fellow forward Aaron Black was in his fourth.

Daw still gave a glimpse of his prodigious talent early in the match with an outstanding run-down of Shaun Burgoyne that set up North’s first goal.

The key now for North is not letting the losses affect their spirit.