North Melbourne's pain worsened following its 85-point loss to Hawthorn on Saturday, with both emerging stars Harry Sheezel and George Wardlaw placed under an injury cloud.

Wardlaw was subbed out of Saturday's contest with concussion, which happened to be his third incident in the past 12 months.

Kangaroos coach Alastair Clarkson attempted to dismiss any serious concerns for the youngster.

 2025-06-28T06:15:00Z 
Hawthorn WON BY 85 POINTS
UTAS
HAW   
150
FT
65
   NMFC

"He's OK. He can remember the game. He's combative in the way that he plays. That is going to happen from time to time," Clarkson said.

However,ย Channel 7's Mitch Cleary offered more of an insight into Wardlaw's history, as well as revealing the concern around Sheezel's shoulder.

"They've got some injury concerns heading into a five-day break against the Western Bulldogs," Cleary said.

"We saw George Wardlaw was subbed out of the game with a concussion. This is his third concussion in the space of 12 months. It's a mounting issue at the Kangaroos, because (the latest incident) was quite innocuous.

"It doesn't seem like he's in a great deal of pain initially, but he was later subbed out. He had a concussion at training last year, as well as Round 20 with delayed symptoms.

"He'll miss one week, but under the AFL guidelines, if players have had multiple concussions in the space of 12 months, there are levers they can pull to extend the time away from the game.

"The other one is Harry Sheezel. The last 90 seconds of the game, he lands awkwardly on his shoulder, and he's off for scans (on Sunday)."

Despite a positive six-week block from the Kangaroos, the heavy defeat came as a surprise given their impressive form.

Clarkson remained poised in his post-match address, saying the club won't enter panic mode after the poor performance.

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"We've been pretty solid the last six or eight weeks, but just disappointed we weren't strong enough in the contest early in the game," Clarkson said.

"We don't want to dig too deep on it, be too forensic.

"We want to look at the block of work that has been done over the last six or eight weeks. We're making some good progress, but came up against a good side."

The Kangaroos will celebrate the club's Centenary with a blockbuster Thursday night fixture against the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium.

 2025-07-03T09:30:00Z 
Bulldogs WON BY 49 POINTS
Marvel Stadium
NMFC   
85
FT
134
   WB