Since Cats forward Paul Chapman claimed Geelong was the better side after it was beaten in the 2004 pre-season grand final by St Kilda, players and coaches from both camps have traded barbs in the lead-up to recent clashes.
This time around, Thompson, who had a very public spat with former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas at the height of the rivalry, is taking a very different tact.
"I think there is a healthy respect and I think it’s a mature respect," he said.
"I know that with Grant [Thomas] in the last couple of years we’ve got closer and talked a bit better than we did. Instead of slagging off each other there is a mutual respect now and I think the players feel like that too."
Even though Geelong won last year’s premiership and St Kilda failed to reach the finals, Thompson revealed he has always felt the two sides are on equal footing.
"I never thought they were too far ahead of us and I don’t think we are too far ahead of them now," he said. "Our games are always good games and I think, since I’ve been at Geelong, we’ve been parallel with the Saints with early draft picks and development at the clubs and they’ve always been great games.
"It should be a very interesting game and I know our boys are looking forward to it."
The Cat most looking forward to tackling the Saints is young ruckman Mark Blake who gets his chance to square-off against former teammate Steven King.
King replaced Blake in last year’s grand final side before the Cats traded their former captain to St Kilda and re-signed the latter on a significant three-year deal.
The individual duel adds spice to what promises to be a hot affair but Thompson recognised Blake has bigger things to worry about than King.
"I don’t think he is any more motivated than any other week," he said.
"He’s got a big career in front of him and he should be looking a bit further than just playing Steven King on the weekend."
Blake will again shoulder the No. 1 ruck duties as Brad Ottens remains sidelined with a heel injury. Ottens has commenced running but is not due back until at least round six while running defender Andrew Mackie will miss another week with a thigh injury. The 23-year-old has not played since the Cats' round one win over Port Adelaide.
All-Australian defender Matthew Egan is expected to begin running next week but is still at least eight weeks from resuming in the VFL.
In a post script to his press conference, Thompson paid tribute to former Labor senator and lifelong Geelong supporter John Button who passed away last night after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
"He’s been pretty close to a lot of people around the football club and been a fantastic loyal supporter of the board, myself personally and a lot of the other coaches," Thompson said.
"We’re going to miss John because he was a great man."
