North Melbourne co vice-captain Luke McDonald has lamented his side’s missed opportunity on the weekend after suffering a Round 1 loss to Hawthorn.

After leading by 20 points midway through the second quarter, the Kangaroos conceded six consecutive goals as Hawthorn put itself in the driver’s seat for the remainder of the contest.

“We were dominating in the first half but we probably didn’t put it on the scoreboard. We were a little inaccurate and then ill-discipline probably cost us in the third quarter ... [it's] bitterly disappointing” McDonald told North Media.

“There are always positives. I thought we were pretty good in the contest, a few of our young mids really stood up … Jy (Simpkin) obviously had an unbelievable pre-season and played another great game, ‘LDU’ (Luke Davies-Uniacke) was good.

“Disappointing, but you have to look at some of the positives as well.”

One of those positives was the performance of Jason Horne-Francis, with the No.1 draft pick impressing on debut.

Finishing the game with 13 disposals, Horne-Francis hit the scoreboard with a goal and ended up with six score involvements.

“You can just tell he (Horne-Francis) is going to be a really good player for North Melbourne for a long period of time,” McDonald said.

“He’s got a really calm head on his shoulders … he wasn’t overawed by the occasion.

“I just can’t wait to play with him for a number of years.”