Brett Ratten has all but confirmed North Melbourne are eyeing special assistance from the AFL after a 48-point thumping from Hawthorn extended the club's losing streak to 15 matches.
Only wayward goalkicking prevented the 16th-placed Hawks from truly embarrassing the Kangaroos in the comprehensive 12.16 (88) to 6.4 (40) defeat at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
Adding to North's woes, Cameron Zurhaar (ankle), Callum Coleman-Jones (concussion), George Wardlaw and Jackson Archer (both hamstring tightness) failed to complete the match.
The Kangaroos' campaign started encouragingly as coaching legend Alastair Clarkson steered the side to consecutive victories in his first two games at the helm.
But the promise quickly unravelled and they have now won just 11 of 78 matches over the past four seasons, leaving them with a strong case to ask the league for help.
It could come in the form of additional draft picks or salary cap concessions.
"I'm interim coach, I'm not the coach, so I don't really want to comment on that but we've seen other teams get it," Ratten told reporters post-match.
Ratten said he believed discussions on that subject were taking place, but "to what level and where does it go, I'm not sure".
"As a footy club you look at everything, don't you? When you're going well or not going well you try and have a look at everything," he said.
Hawthorn's fourth win in eight matches meant they pulled further clear of the Kangaroos and last-placed West Coast at the foot of the ladder.
James Worpel (32 disposals, seven clearances), Jai Newcombe (33, seven) and Conor Nash (31, four) led a dominant Hawks midfield, with Karl Amon (33 touches) also influential.
Hawthorn won the inside-50 count in a landslide (71-41) but didn't take full toll, and led by just six points after kicking 3.13 in the first half.
They kicked away after the main break as Luke Breust and Mitch Lewis finished with three goals each.
"I find myself being a little bit disappointed that we couldn't put more scores on the board," Hawks coach Sam Mitchell said.
"We should be more potent going forward. But we'll take the win and lots of real positives from individuals across the course of the day.
"We played a game style that stood up against them and was able to be executed a bit better than what we've been able to do in the past.
"A lot of steps in the right direction but I thought we left some positivity out there."
Bailey Scott (34 disposals) and Luke Davies-Uniacke (26 touches, six clearances, one goal) worked hard for North Melbourne.
Young star Harry Sheezel racked up 20 touches in the first half before Finn Maginness put the clamps on him, while Paul Curtis kicked the Kangaroos' only two goals after half-time.
