Just how much of a psychological edge can Hawthorn take from their win over Geelong in round 22?

It was Hawthorn’s second win in their past three outings against the Cats, breaking an 11-game losing streak which started after their grand final triumph over Geelong in 2008.

But it came with a sprinkling of intrigue from within the Geelong camp, with Cats coach Chris Scott saying his side took plenty of positives from the game.

Geelong conceded a 31-point halftime lead against Hawthorn before losing by 23 points on August 23, setting up another classic encounter in Friday night’s AFL qualifying final at the MCG.

Scott said given the Cats had played well in the first half they’d taken a step forward in their preparation.

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said on Thursday he couldn’t shed any light on whether the Cats had held something back in the second half.

“You’d be better to speak to Scotty about that than me,” Clarkson told reporters.

“We just go out and play footy.

“What Geelong do and what their approach to the game is (is) completely different to ours probably so probably leave it at that.

“Who would have thought that game would have unfolded the way that it did two weeks ago? Tomorrow’s going to be a great contest.”

But Hawthorn’s recent dominance over Geelong must give the players a boost?

“We don’t care. We just look forward to the next game,” Clarkson said.

Clarkson says his defending premiers took one simple lesson from round 22: play your best against the Cats or you’re going to be in trouble.

He says his message to his players at halftime against Geelong was to give a stronger contest at the ball. That’s it.

Dual-premiership forward Cyril Rioli is set to escalate his training load over the next week in a bid to return from a hamstring injury for the preliminary final, Clarkson said.

Clarkson says his experienced side have been through a lot, especially in 2014 as they chase back-to-back flags.

“They’ve played a lot of football together and they’ve coped with a lot of adversity, whether that’s injuries, illnesses to their coach, or whether it’s disappointing losses in finals,” he said.

“Those clubs that can handle the adversity and move on from it are usually the ones that continue to find themselves giving themselves a chance at the end of the year.”

Hawthorn and Geelong have won 17 games each in 2014 and, while both sides have stars on every line, the contest between Geelong’s spearhead Tom Hawkins and Hawthorn fullback Brian Lake could be season-defining.

“He (Hawkins) has been an important contributor for them but they’ve shown like us that they can get a spread of goalkickers too,” Clarkson said.

“We’ll be more mindful of the whole side rather than just one bloke.”