North Melbourne is determined to make Hawthorn earn its finals berth as the Kangaroos attempt to end their season on a high.

The Kangaroos close their season against the seventh-placed Hawks, who need to win to seal their top-eight spot, in Launceston on Saturday.

But Clarkson wouldn't be drawn on the suggestion the season's end would be sweeter if they could ruin his former club's party.

"There's no greater incentive to try and win this game than there was last week against the Dogs," he said.

"We're just trying to really focus on the things that we can control, and if we perform the way that we want to perform, then we'll make it difficult for any side that we're playing against. 

"And we did that pretty well for the second half of the year, except for two games in particular, against Sydney and the Western Bulldogs.

"We're hoping that we can just rectify things a little bit better to make Hawthorn really, really earn their spot in September, if they can get over the line."

Both teams will send off retiring triple-premiership Hawk and now-North Melbourne veteran Liam Shiels, who Clarkson hailed and confirmed would remain at Arden Street in a development/recruiting role.

Clarkson took "enormous hope" from how, apart from tough losses to the Western Bulldogs and Sydney, North Melbourne had taken it up to teams in the second half of the season.

"Our fan base, I think, is seeing some of the emergence of our talent and the way that we want to play," he said.

"But where we are as a footy club, we need another summer, and we need another probably full season of playing 23 games of footy against really competitive opposition to continue to grow. 

"We've got the youngest list in the competition, and the most inexperienced list of the competition, so we just know that hard yards have to be done, that (they) are still ahead of us. 

"That's exciting, but at the same time a little bit daunting, because (I) just wish it could all happen right now."