GEELONG'S army of tall forwards was instrumental in its second qualifying final win against Hawthorn at the MCG on Friday night, but Cats coach Chris Scott said he was tempted to cull some of that tall limber because of the wet and windy weather.

Despite the unfavourable conditions at the MCG, tall forwards James Podsiadly, Tom Hawkins and rotating ruckmen Brad Ottens and Trent West gave the Cats' forward line an imposing aerial presence against the Hawks.

Podsiadly kicked three goals, Ottens and Hawkins two each, while West chimed in the final quarter with a goal after taking a huge mark on the shoulders of Hawk defender Ryan Schoenmakers.

The Hawks have been undermanned in defence in 2011, with Stephen Gilham and Ben Stratton sidelined for much of the season with injury. And the Cats preyed on that on Friday night, with Hawk defenders Josh Gibson and Schoenmakers eventually overwhelmed by their bigger and stronger opponents.

However, Scott admitted after Friday night's 31-point win that he had considered bringing veteran defender Darren Milburn in as a late replacement for one of his talls.

"The conditions didn't necessarily suit the tall guys. I mean it was slippery most of the night but it was also really windy and the wind was really flukey," Scott said.

"[Taking four talls into the game] was a risk. I was sitting at home through the day just looking at the sheets of rain coming through and sort of wondering. Milburn is such a good wet weather player and we're still thinking he's going to play a big part in the finals series potentially, along with Cam Mooney as well.

"[But] in the end the decision to go with those big blokes paid off. We have a really specific role we want those guys to play and we thought for the majority of the night they did that extremely well."

On a more sombre note, Scott said the Cats were devastated by the knee injury young forward Daniel Menzel suffered in the second quarter against the Hawks.

Although stressing Geelong's medical staff had yet to confirm Menzel had ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, Scott said they were not hopeful.

Asked about Steve Johnson's at times brilliant and at times blundering performance against the Hawks, Scott simply said he had to take the good with the bad.

Johnson was the equal leading possession winner on Friday night with 27 disposals and kicked a soccer goal in the four-goal burst late in the third quarter that effectively sealed a preliminary final berth for the Cats.

However, he also kicked four behinds and at the 11-minute mark of the final quarter, with the Hawks still in striking distance, tried to launch a low percentage torpedo punt at goal from well outside 50m. It went out of bounds on the ball.

"I think if you try to coach some of that flair out of him you'll end up with less output from a player like that," Scott said.

"So I won't lie to you and say that at times he doesn't frustrate us, but if he had have taken his chances tonight he would have had a much better game.

"He's a really important part of the way we play. He'd certainly give the opposition coach's box headaches, but sometimes he gives us headaches as well."

Scott said he did not consider moving Tom Lonergan off Lance Franklin in the third quarter when he kicked 2.2, saying he'd been confident Lonergan and the Cats' back six as a collective would fight back.

Midfielder Joel Corey, who has been sidelined with a groin injury, would be available for the Cats' preliminary final, Scott said.

He added the Cats would not have too long off next week as they start their preparation for that match in two weeks' time.

"The mental freshen up is important, but staying hard and staying focused is important at the same time, so we'll have a little bit of time off but the consistency of our training won't change too much from a normal week," he said.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs