GEELONG defender James Kelly knows just how painful it can be to lose knockout matches in September.

Kelly was watching television with teammate Shannon Byrnes on Tuesday night and happened to stumble over a replay of the Cats' heartbreaking loss to the Sydney Swans in a semi-final back in 2005.

The Cats were beaten by three points in that game after Nick Davis kicked four extraordinary goals in the last quarter.

The last one went through with only a few seconds left on the clock.

"We thought about turning the telly off when the game had five minutes to go, but we ended up watching the whole thing," Kelly said.

"It was unbelievable and it still gets you a bit annoyed when you watch that game. But it was an amazing contest."

Kelly is desperate to avoid such feelings of disappointment when Geelong takes on Collingwood in Friday night's preliminary final, although he says the loss to the Swans no longer drives the team like it once did.

"Probably in 2007 it drove us a bit," Kelly said. "But it's a fair way back in the past now, so we're just focused on this year.

"Looking back five years for motivation is probably a bit too far."

Despite having to play in each week of this year's finals series, Kelly believes Geelong's will to win can give it the edge against the Magpies, who are coming off a lengthy break.

"Everyone's really competitive in our group," Kelly said.

"We train that way and we play that way. No one likes losing, even if it's a game of ping-pong at the club.

"We don't want to lose anything and that's the nature of our group. That's what has made us a competitive side."

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