HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson is confident the highs and lows of last year's finals campaign have better equipped his side to attack September this time around starting with Friday's qualifying final against the Western Bulldogs.

The elation at knocking off the Crows at the death in an elimination final was quickly replaced by the disappointment of a five-goal semi-final defeat last year, but Clarkson maintains it was all a valuable part of the learning process.

"We'd like to think that we've gained a lot from the experience of the finals last year where we had the exhilaration of winning the first final and the demoralising feeling of losing the following game against the Kangaroos," Clarkson said.

"I think every experience you go through like that helps your players prepare for the opportunity to play in finals again."

Not only was it educational for his players, but Clarkson believes it was good for the coaching staff to experience the roller coaster ride that is a finals campaign.

Nevertheless, Clarkson isn't completely convinced that a finals match is such a different beast when compared to a home and away fixture. 

"It's a difficult one because if you ask a lot of people in football some will say that finals footy is a different game altogether and you'll get other experienced finals campaigners that will say 'just treat it like another game'. So no one really knows the answer to that question," he said.

"It is a little bit different because of the hype and expectation and the result itself has got such big stakes. But having said that, the preparation for the game and the roles that the players play and the way they execute the skills of the game are similar to every game that they play.

"We've tried to keep things as normal as we possibly can and recognise that the Western Bulldogs are a pretty formidable opponent and that we'll need to play really well to get across the line."