THERE are many reasons to believe that Friday night's Geelong versus Collingwood clash will be a classic.

Both teams are undefeated after seven rounds and both teams are chock full of star players.

In the Geelong camp, there's Chapman, Bartel, Selwood, Scarlett, Taylor, Corey, Enright and Ottens.

In the black and white corner are the likes of Swan, Thomas, Pendlebury, Cloke, Dawes, Heath Shaw and big bad Leigh(roy) Brown.

And given they've won three of the past four premierships between them, both teams know how to handle big games and big crowds.

But will this weekend's feverishly anticipated contest actually be close?

A look at the outcomes of recent matches between these teams suggests the answer is no.

Last year's preliminary final is the first piece of evidence presented by the prosecution. On that September night, Dane Swan, Scott Pendlebury and Dale Thomas made the Cats look old and slow as Collingwood booted seven goals to one in the first quarter.

By half time, the Magpies were 62 points up and the rest of the game was simply a case of trying to stay healthy and looking forward to the Grand Final.

The eventual margin of 41 points flattered Geelong. Mark Thompson's attacking style of play, which had delivered two flags and some tremendous entertainment for their fans, was torn to ribbons by a young, fit and well-drilled Collingwood side.

"I think the thing that killed us last year was our game plan," admits veteran Geelong forward Cameron Mooney.

That night was also the occasion that the footy world sat up and realised the true value of the Magpies' "forward press".

Time and time again, Collingwood blasted the ball into its forward line, then moved all its players up the field to ensure it stayed there.

When they managed to get their hands on the Sherrin deep in defence, the Cats players - some of the most highly skilled footballers in the AFL - could only bomb the ball back out to the 50m line and hope it didn't come straight back. On many occasions it did.

"They had come up with a game plan that counteracted ours, because we were so dominant over the years, and we just couldn't adapt to what they were doing," says Mooney.

"We've given our style of play a bit of a tweak this year and we think that come Friday night, we should be ok."

Some things have certainly changed. The Cats' best player on that night, Gary Ablett, who gathered 40 possessions, is now the captain of Gold Coast, while Thompson is second in command to James Hird at Essendon.

Prior to the preliminary final meeting, these two met in round 19 last year.

By that stage of the season, the Magpies had displaced the Cats at the top of the ladder, and the full-time score in that game was as misleading as that displayed on the big screen at the conclusion of the preliminary final.

Collingwood won by 22 points, yet the Pies played Thompson's men off the park. They had 37 scoring shots to 25, and if not for their inaccurate kicking (they booted 6.14 in the second half), the margin could easily have been more than 10 goals.

Alan Didak (35 possessions and a goal) and Dane Swan (32 touches) were the stars of the 14.23 (107) to 12.13 (85) victory, while Dayne Beams kicked three impressive goals.

Wind the clock back to round nine, 2010, and the teams produced another relatively one-sided affair, although this time it was Geelong that inflicted the damage.

Jimmy Bartel snared the three Brownlow Medal votes as the Cats kicked six goals to two after half time to win by 36 points.

Collingwood key forwards Travis Cloke and Chris Dawes were both held goalless by Harry Taylor and Matthew Scarlett respectively.

Of course, it turned out to be false dawn for Geelong.

Yet go back another eight months, to the preliminary final of 2009, and we come across an example of the Cats at their fluent and damaging best.

Geelong advanced to the 2009 Grand Final by dishing out a hiding to the Magpies. On a wet night, the Cats handled the slippery ball with supreme confidence, turning an 11-point half-time lead into a 73-point win.

Paul Chapman was best on ground with five goals, while Ablett and Corey led the way in the midfield, amassing 34 possessions each.

Further back we go, past the Cats' 27-point win in round three, 2009, which would have been much closer if Collingwood had kicked straight.

Then we reach round eight, 2008. Geelong, which had won its previous 12 matches, including the 2007 grand final, is humbled by Collingwood to the tune of 86 points.

It was one of only two games the Cats lost in '08. The other was the Grand Final to Hawthorn.

At last, we reach the 2007 preliminary final; the game when this remarkable modern rivalry began.

On that September night, Geelong, which were then still burdened by its 44-year premiership drought, almost fell at the second-last hurdle.

Kept on track by Ablett, Bartel, Johnson, Ottens and Stokes, the Cats led by five points at quarter time and at half time and scraped home by that very margin.

Irishman Marty Clarke and defender James Clement were among the best players for the unlucky Magpies, while Dane Swan, Harry O'Brien and Nick Maxwell were other fine contributors.

In what proved to be his last game, Nathan Buckley gathered 19 possessions, before straining his hamstring and ending the game sitting on the bench with a look of anguish written across his face.

He concluded his career having played 280 games over 15 seasons. He had won a Brownlow Medal and played in two Grand Finals (2002 and 2003), but retired without a premiership medallion.

Eight days later, the Cats finally slayed their demons by winning the flag with a record-breaking 119-point win over Port Adelaide.

It is a tough and tight contest like that preliminary final of 2007 that the footy world wants on Friday night.

The one thing we do know about the upcoming clash is that a big crowd will certainly be watching on.

Since the start of the '07 season, the eight games between Geelong and Collingwood have drawn an average of 84,405 people. Six of the crowds have been greater than 80,000; two have been bigger than 90,000.

In the past four years matches between the Cats and Magpies have attracted more people than any other head-to-head battles, including Collingwood versus Essendon.

So, who will win? The Pies deserve to be favourites, although they have not beaten Geelong in three successive matches since 1984-85.

"They had their measure over us for four or five years, so to be able to beat them last year was quite a big thing for us," Collingwood defender Harry O'Brien said on Tuesday.

But the Cats are quietly confident.

"We're really happy with our pre-season and we're relatively injury free," says Geelong coach Chris Scott.

"We've performed pretty well in the first six games. I don't think we're playing our best football.

"I firmly believe that's still to come, but I think we're in pretty good shape to test ourselves."

Maybe, just maybe, it will be the classic we've been waiting for.