The bitter lessons of last year's grand final defeat and the struggle to overcome form and fitness hurdles in the second half of this season have the Cats better placed this week than they were 12 months ago, according to Geelong coach Mark Thompson.

Thompson said every thought and action at the club has been geared towards ensuring that all's perfect on Saturday when the Cats take on the Saints in the 2009 AFL Grand Final.

"The last two years we've just been expected to win and St Kilda were the best team all year and we've had injuries and lost games and struggled in so many areas," Thompson said at Skilled Stadium on Tuesday.

"So, in some ways it's been a real challenge to get to where we are right now."

"The fact that we lost last year's grand final, they're all sort of good things that are keeping us really respectful and that's probably a little bit different to what it was last year."

"This year the whole focus has been on playing the game rather than the event - that's what it's about for the coaches and I can see a significant difference in the playing group."

"They're really focused on the game, and that's what you need to do."

Thompson admitted to having serious concerns late in the season when the Cats dropped games not only to the Saints in that Round 14 epic, but to the Brisbane Lions, Carlton and Western Bulldogs, and found the loss through injury of players such as Brad Ottens and James Kelly difficult to cover.

"Living through that period where we weren't playing our best footy was a little bit of a worry because there was a lot of injuries and the players didn't seem to be playing with the Geelong spirit," said Thompson.

"There was a few weeks there where you had to think - have they got it in them to get back up?"

"Looking back now you would say that since Round 12 or 13 they've almost been guaranteed a top-four spot or top-two spot so the motivation to play that standard of footy, week-in, week-out when there was really nothing in them makes a lot of sense that they dropped away."

"I'm very, very pleased that Round 21, Round 22 and the two finals we've played so far have been more to the form that we like."

Thompson declared small forward Mathew Stokes, who missed the club's preliminary