Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson is coming around to the AFL's pre-finals bye.
Clarkson has been one of the fiercest critics of the pre-September week off since it was introduced in 2016.
This time a year ago, Clarkson referred to the integrity of the game because the bye diminished the benefit of finishing in the top four.
The Hawks have returned to the top four for the first time since 2016.
While Clarkson is like a kid at Christmas ahead of Thursday night's qualifying final against Richmond, he accepts there is another side to the finals bye argument.
"Every club has guys who have had pretty gruelling seasons and it just gives you a chance to have a deep breath and then get set for the finals," Clarkson said.
"It is what it is - if we had to play last Thursday night, we would have played.
"Like any of these issues in the game, there's a part of me (thinking) that the war of attrition of a season of footy means that you just follow on the next week.
"But when you're actually a coach or a player in the game, just to have that little bit of a deep breath isn't such a bad thing either."
Clarkson said it felt like they had been waiting ages for Thursday night's clash to come.
"We're the first final off the rank, but I reckon there would be six other sides wishing they were playing Thursday night too, just to get it going," he said.
"The nervous energy is there for all of us, coaches and players alike, and supporters.
"You'd think, having been through this a few times before, the nervous energy wouldn't be there quite as much.
"But the sun comes out, you smell the green grass of September and you're ready to go."
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