The ability of key youngsters like Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Matthew Kreuzer to handle finals pressure is the major intangible of the elimination final against the Lions, but Houlihan says the Blues are no strangers to blockbuster match-ups.
"It is a young group but it's a group that has been put under pressure before. We've played in some big games together which I think will stand us in good stead," Houlihan said.
Carlton has played in front of crowds of more than 80,000 four times this year and improved its record on the road which further adds to the side's confidence, according to the 27-year-old.
Houlihan and Brendan Fevola are the only Carlton players to have played in a final in the navy blue and he has taken it upon himself to help prepare his younger teammates.
"I'll get around and talk to the boys a bit. I'll try and fill them in a bit on what finals are all about," he said.
"It will be on early and hopefully our younger guys will be able to match their intensity right from the start.
"Making finals was the goal at the start of the year and we're here now so we'll enjoy it and try to make the most of it.
"It is a time when you have to step up and take your chances because you don't know when it will come around again."
Houlihan played five finals in his first two years at the club in 2000 and 2001 which may have given him a slightly skewed sense of how his burgeoning career would proceed.
"It's been quite a journey since I first came down here as an 18-year-old," he said.
"Once we finished round 22, I sort of sat back and had a bit of a think about those finals. It was so long ago that it was hard for me to remember how I went.
"There were definitely times when I just sat back and wondered whether we were ever going to get a chance to play finals footy again. During '03, '04 and '05 I did have a few thoughts that maybe 2000 and 2001 would be the last time I played in a finals side.
"I've been there in the good times and in the low times as well and now we're on our way back to the good times again. I've been there through it all and I'm really excited with where the club is headed."
The entire playing group stayed behind at Etihad Stadium after the loss to Adelaide in the final round to have dinner and watch the Sydney Swans-Brisbane Lions game.
That match didn't turn out how they would have liked – the Lions won to claim the home ground advantage this weekend - but Houlihan says it was a very useful evening nonetheless.
The players were taken through a video montage of their journey in 2009 and reminded of their achievements and hard work along the way.
Houlihan hit a sizable speed bump on his own road to the finals when he was dropped after the agonising last-gasp loss to Hawthorn in round six.
"It was probably a wake-up call that I needed," he said.
"When you work so hard during pre-season and the team is on the way up it's really hard to get left out of the team. But you can't sook about it; you've just got to get back up on the horse.
"I wasn’t out of the team for too long thankfully and I think I learned from a few mistakes. Since I got back in the team I think my form has been pretty consistent so it's worked out okay."
