Geelong’s 69-point win over Fremantle at the MCG on Friday night earned it a preliminary final berth against the Magpies, the team it has beaten to reach two of its past three grand finals.
Thompson said it was important for his side to be as hungry for success as the Pies, despite having won premierships in 2007 and 2009.
“They’re just chipping away at trying to get a great team going. I’ve got no doubt they are a little bit jealous of us, envious of what we’ve achieved and that they’re after us,” he said.
“We’ve just got to have as much hatred for them as what they have for us. And I’m sure they probably hate us.”
Thompson faces a selection dilemma leading into the mouth-watering preliminary final after backing recalled defender Tom Lonergan to hold his place ahead of the out-of-favour Andrew Mackie.
Mackie was dropped for the Cats' semi-final against Fremantle after a below-par game in the club's qualifying final loss to St Kilda.
Thompson said it would be difficult to find a spot for the versatile defender after guaranteeing that Lonergan would not go out of the side.
“[Mackie] was the 23rd player this week. He got dropped because we had a better player we thought needed to come in, not just this week but with next week as well,” Thompson said after the win on Friday night.
“Lonergan won’t go out of the side, (Harry) Taylor and (Matthew) Scarlett won’t go out of the side. It’s whether Andrew can fit his way into the team.
"We’d love to have him, he is a high-quality player but unfortunately you can only play 22.”
Another candidate to make way is Josh Hunt, who had another underwhelming game against Fremantle after a poor performance against the Saints.
Thompson admitted Hunt wasn’t in the greatest form but offered his support.
“To do what he’s done all year, coming back from a knee reconstruction, has been outstanding and there is a lot of confidence in Josh,” he said.
Thompson praised ruckman Brad Ottens for his game against Fremantle giant Aaron Sandilands. While Sandilands struggled with a knee injury, Ottens worked hard all night to win the points.
The Geelong coach said the former Tiger came close to being dropped during the week before the Cats settled on omitting Mark Blake.
“I thought Blakey and Ottens last week had poor games. We tossed a coin and went with Ottens. Blakey has had a good year for us. We weren’t going to play two of them with Podsiadly and Mooney,” he said.
“The pressure was on Ottens tonight to play well because we’ve got a good player ready as a back-up. We were pleased with Ottens’ game. He rucked well, followed up well and moved a lot better than he has.”
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