A dominant second half against Collingwood on Saturday night has earned a revitalised Geelong the right to contest its third consecutive AFL Grand Final.

The Cats will go into next Saturday's premiership decider against flag favourites St Kilda bursting with confidence and in great shape coming off their crushing 73-point preliminary-final victory - 17.18 (120) to 6.11 (47).

Dissatisfied with his team's winning performances in its past two prelims, coach Mark Thompson's beefed-up preparation produced the emphatic victory he was looking for.

There was little sign of the excruciating pressure that rival counterpart Mick Malthouse had spoken of in the lead-up to the match as the Cats set themselves up with a four-goal burst in the third-quarter - the premiership quarter - that built a 34-point buffer at the final change.

Everything after that, as they say in the classics, was just icing on the cake, and the Cats lavished six goals worth of icing in the final term without reply from the hapless Pies.

Paul Chapman was best-afield with five goals from 26 telling possessions for the Cats, Steve Johnson was busy and productive in his first hitout since hip surgery late last month, and Gary Ablett and Joel Corey gathered an equal match-high 34 disposals.

While that quartet headlined a list of contributors that ran 22-deep, Collingwood, in contrast, was laden with passengers.

In his 100th AFL game, Travis Cloke had nothing to celebrate, Leon Davis was totally anonymous as he has been all September and fellow All Australian Dane Swan, who was suspected of carrying a strained buttock into the match, had Cameron Ling up his clacker all night.

The honest and durable Shane O'Bree was the only Collingwood midfielder to stand up and have a crack.

Dayne Beams started for the Pies in place of Scott Pendlebury whose withdrawal from the selected line-up just 12 days after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured fibula was a shock to no-one.

Collingwood started brilliantly with the first seven inside-50s of the match from which they managed to convert twice in conditions rendered greasy by a band of rain that settled over Jolimont for 90 minutes leading up to the opening bounce.

Ben Johnson capitalised on a spill from tentative Harry Taylor to snare the opening goal inside the first minute, and Harry O'Brien dobbed the Pies' second with a long bomb from broken play.

It wasn't as if the Cats lacked composure, they were simply overwhelmed by an outfit that picked up from precisely where it left off last week.

That trend was broken, however, from the moment Ablett wrested control at the clearances which were to favour the Cats 16-6 by quarter-time.

Without a touch after 10 minutes, Ablett burst to life with 12 possessions in even time to get Geelong rolling.

It was one-way traffic to the Punt Road end as Geelong strung together eight straight inside-50s in a perfect reversal of the early running.

Weight of possession provided Brad Ottens, Shannon Byrnes and Chapman with opportunities to goal which they gratefully accepted to deliver a 10-point break at the first change.

The difference was 11 at half-time - still the Cats' way - but the second term was not the blow-for-blow affair or stalemate the margin might suggest.

The Magpies held sway clearly at the stoppages and dominated the inside 50s but failed to make it count on the scoreboard.

The Pies had managed just one goal from six scoring shots for the term and were trailing by 24 points deep in time on before Lockyer and Didak salvaged late majors.

The more efficient Cats won the quarter with 4.1 which included two goals to Tom Hawkins - the first from on the boundary line outside 50 and his second following a free for a desperate chase and tackle on Nick Maxwell.

The Cats surged with three goals inside the first nine minutes of third term to Johnson, Cam Mooney - with the help of a 70-metre penalty from a generous umpire McLaren - and Joel Corey.

By the time Byrnes added a fourth at the 17-minute mark, the contest was as good as over.

GEELONG: 3.6, 7.7, 11.13, 17.18 (120)
COLLINGWOOD: 2.2, 5.8, 6.9, 6.11 (47)

GOALS: Geelong: Chapman 5, Hawkins 2, Byrnes 2, Ablett 2, Varcoe 2, Johnson, Mooney, Corey, Ottens
Collingwood: Didak, Lockyer, Johnson, O'Brien, Brown, Macaffer
BEST: Geelong: Chapman, Ablett, Corey, Ling, Hawkins, Milburn, Taylor, Enright
Collingwood: O'Bree, Johnson, Brown, Didak, Shaw
INJURIES: Geelong: Nil
Collingwood: Nil
REPORTS: Nil
CHANGES: Scott Pendlebury (leg soreness) replaced in Collingwood's selected side by Dayne Beams
UMPIRES: Rosebury, S.Ryan, McLaren
CROWD: 87,258 at the MCG