The Kangaroos were uncompetitive after halftime in their annual marquee fixture, going down in a 24.9 (153) to 11.5 (71) hiding from Carlton at Marvel Stadium.
It left Clarkson's side bearing a 1-5 record in familiar territory near the foot of the ladder.
"We feel like we're making progress (but) it doesn't feel like that today," Clarkson said.
"Our first four games of the year were really, really competitive.
"There's patches of our games where we're going OK but today was really disappointing because we built ourselves up for a big contest."
Clarkson conceded his side was "spanked" around the contest by Carlton in an alarming downfall, given that is usually an area of strength for the Kangaroos.
The Blues piled on five straight goals in a blitz before quarter-time and kicked 15.4 to 5.2 after the main break.
"If they're dominating the contest like that, then it's going to put your backs under enormous stress, and that was the case today," Clarkson said.
"It's a little bit like the golf game when different areas of your game are falling apart.
"Other weeks it's been turnover or other aspects and today it was a part of our game that we're usually pretty strong at.
"We'll just keep getting to work and see if we can improve in that space next week.
"But in terms of where we're going and what we think we need to do, we feel like we're still on the right track."
North now have a 1-7 record in the Good Friday fixture, including three-straight losses to Carlton by an average margin of 54 points.
The manner of latest defeat - in front of a healthy 46,373-strong crowd - will likely raise renewed questions over their grasp on the marquee slot.
"That's just swings and roundabouts," Clarkson said.
"The bottom line is if the wider football public were concerned about the game itself and the quality of it, they wouldn't vote with their feet like they have."
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