The Cats host the Blues in a marquee match-up of September-bound teams at Etihad Stadium and neither coach will be holding anything back in reserve.
“This is where the action starts,” Ratten said.
“At the start of the year ... I know most journos didn’t have us in [the finals] and we’ve only had once this year where our win-loss ratio was below the level that we were after.
“I don’t know if it’s good to be playing a team that’s just won by 101 points against the team one position below them (the Western Bulldogs), but it will be good for the group.
“Early in that game both teams were really up and going then Geelong sustained that for four quarters and played brilliant football. That’s going to be the challenge for the group - it’s got to be a four-quarter performance.
“Even if we’re behind or whatever the scoreboard says we have to really keep digging in deep and finding a way [to compete].
“It’s good for our group to challenge themselves against the Cats who have been the best team in the comp for the last four or so years. It will be a great challenge.”
Despite the size of the margin against the Dogs, Thompson is intent on seeing his team operate at a higher level as it gears up for a tilt at a third flag in four years.
“We’d like to even get better and more consistent,” Thompson said.
“You can fluff around the edges sometimes, but this is the part of the year where you’ve got to be really strong and ruthless and play the sort of footy that’s going to stand up.”
Ratten described the task ahead of his side as “daunting” but the coach has had similar things to say ahead of their previous two encounters which the Blues have won.
“The last two times we’ve gone to play them we haven’t implemented our plan that well and haven’t played great footy,” Thompson said.
“So we’re looking to build on last week and have four consistent quarters of football leading into the finals. That’s our plan and that’s all we really want to focus on.”
