GEELONG champion Gary Ablett has challenged his Cats teammates to have a "good hard look" at themselves this summer in order to make up ground on the rest of the competition.

Speaking after Geelong exited the finals at the hands of Melbourne on Friday night, Ablett reiterated that he does believe the current Cats side is strong enough to challenge for a flag.

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However, he laid down the marker for his teammates to have a strong pre-season in order to improve on the deficiencies that saw them slump to a 29-point defeat to the Demons.

"It comes from training drills well and improving in areas of our game," Ablett said.

"We need every individual to make sure that we're having a good hard look at ourselves and working on the areas where we need to improve.

"Clearly, at the moment and by the look of tonight, there are plenty of areas where we do need to improve."

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Geelong has been one of the League's most aggressive sides at the NAB AFL Trade Period recently, with the club making a considered effort to extend its premiership window.

Despite the Cats losing their ninth finals match in 12 on Friday night, Ablett believes that flag success will remain on the agenda in season 2019.

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"We've got the team to do it," Ablett said.

"(Chris Scott) touched on it in the meeting, there are just a lot of areas where we need to improve. We're going to work on that over the summer.

"But I believe we have the group to be able to win a premiership."

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Having topped up its list with the addition of Ablett during last year's trade window, the Cats were once again unable to challenge deep into September after an eighth-place finish.

However, Ablett stopped short of labelling the club's lack of success in 2018 as a failure.

"I don't like to use that word," he said.

"I don't know what I really feel right now. There are mixed emotions obviously. You play footy to play in finals and ultimately to have a crack at the premiership.

"It was a tough loss tonight, I know how disappointed the boys all are. It's an opportunity that we haven't made the most of. But you can't take away anything from Melbourne.

"We need to go away, we need to look at the tape and make sure we're improving."