GEELONG skipper Joel Selwood was bruised and battered after a couple of head knocks during the Cats' semi-final win over Port Adelaide but eagerly anticipating Friday's preliminary final against Hawthorn.

The Cats have qualified for their sixth preliminary final in seven years but did it the hard way, beating Port on Friday by 16 points at the MCG after Geelong's qualifying-final loss to Fremantle at Simonds Stadium on September 7.

Minor premiers Hawthorn will be fresh after a week's rest but face the "Kennett Curse" of not having beaten the Cats in 11 meetings since the 2008 Grand Final.


It's a losing streak some have blamed upon ex-Hawks president Jeff Kennett who boasted his club had a mental edge over Geelong in big games.

"We like beating them," Selwood told a media conference in Geelong.

"We really rate them as a side. They're the benchmark.

"Our group are just a competitive bunch of blokes. Expect us to be that next week.

"We probably do go in as the underdogs. They've had the week off, we're going in, we've played the extra game, they played some great footy against Sydney the week before."

Teammate James Kelly echoed Selwood's thoughts. 

"This time I think deservedly Hawthorn are the favourites," Kelly told the Seven Network's AFL Game Day on Sunday.

"They've been the dominant side all year and they're in better form than us at the moment."

Geelong was expected to overpower Port but had to work hard for victory, having trailed by 23 points at half-time before kicking 10 goals to Port's five in the second half.

Cats' coach Chris Scott says he takes confidence from his side's second-half performance and Selwood agrees Geelong may have given Hawthorn something to fear.

"Probably before the last two quarters on the weekend, I'm sure there would have been a lot of money on them," Selwood said.

However triple-premiership player Selwood isn't fussed about Geelong's winning run against the Hawks.

"I wish, I wish. No, it doesn't (mean much)," he said.

"It's a new game. There'll be players who haven't played against each other yet, the sides are different. We'll go in and give it everything we've got."

Kelly said the Cats would need to improve their accuracy in front of goal to have any chance of continuing their winning streak against Hawthorn. 

The Cats have kicked a total of 37.58 over their past three games.

"Going into finals and big finals like this weekend, you've really got to take your chances," he said.

"It nearly cost us the game against Brisbane (in round 23) and probably had a bit to do with (losing) the (qualifying final) against Fremantle.

"It is something we're going to look at during the week." 


The 31-year-old Norm Smith medallist booted four goals and had 20 disposals against Port but could face a one-game ban depending on the match-review panel's findings regarding his bump on Port's Robbie Gray.

"I haven't seen it yet, but yeah, you are worried," Selwood said.