THE OPPORTUNITY to return to the MCG will give the Swans the inspiration they need for Friday's semi final against the Western Bulldogs, forward Amon Buchanan said.

The small forward barged his way through North Melbourne's flimsy defence in Saturday night's elimination final at ANZ Stadium, gathering a game-high 26 possessions in the Swans' 35-point win.

The Swans are surging into the finals with a 61-point win over Brisbane in round 22 followed by their demolition of the Kangaroos.

Buchanan, who was one of Sydney's best players in their 2005 premiership win over West Coast and their one-point loss to the Eagles a year later, knows all about the MCG experience.

"We like playing at the MCG, the tradition," Buchanan said.

"That's the home of football and it's really exciting to get down there and play."

The 179cm Buchanan said he was confident the Swans could overcome the Bulldogs despite two defeats by a total of 38 points earlier this season.

"To beat the Bulldogs (the Swans must) turn up and play the way we did in the second half," Buchanan said on 2KY radio.

"I'm sure Rocket (Bulldogs coach and former Swans mentor Rodney Eade) knows our style of play pretty well but I just think this year we haven't played great football against them.

"The two games that we've played, we've turned up and played a quarter of football and lost.

"We've got to just go down there, it's a big occasion at the MCG, the stakes are high, so I'm sure everyone is going to be up and hopefully play the same way we did in the second half (outscoring North Melbourne 13 goals to five)."

Buchanan, 25, said the half time speech by coach Paul Roos had lifted the Swans.

"One of the things that I remember him saying was if we go out there and play football that we can play, then we'll win and they won't be able to come with us," the Victorian said.

"We played the football that we had played in the past and what we were kind of known for, which is really aggressive attack on the footy and tackle-and-chase pressure, and we turned it around (after North were 10 points ahead at half time)."

Buchanan has played 19 games this season for a career total of 107. He served a four-game suspension after round 15 following a heavy bump on his fellow Colac product Luke Hodge from Hawthorn.