Clarkson: Cats can be beaten

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson had a message for his players on the eve of their blockbuster MCG clash against Geelong on Friday night: the Cats are not indestructible.

Amidst the growing hype about the greatness of the current Cats' line-up - which has now won 34 of its past 36 matches and last week destroyed the second-placed Western Bulldogs by 61 points without injured pair Gary Ablett and Cameron Ling - Clarkson was quick to remind everyone on Thursday his team had beaten the Cats the last three times they have played them.

Equally, however, Clarkson knows all those victories were before the Cats began their current hot streak and Friday night's clash in front of an expected 90,000-plus fans shapes as the biggest test of just how much the Hawks have improved since they last met and defeated the Cats in Round 4 last season in Tasmania.

"We are a bit behind them in terms of the development, age and experience of our group but we respect them enormously as a club and a group of players and it's going to be a real big challenge for us on Friday night," Clarkson said.

But the Hawks coach is far from daunted at taking on a team that seems to be on an unstoppable course for back-to-back premierships for the first time since 1952.

"We have done well against Geelong, winning our last three games against them, so it's not like they are indestructible and can't be defeated," he said.

"We have the confidence knowing they can be defeated because we beat them the previous year (2007) and twice the year before (in 2006) but that was such a long time ago and their side has changed a fair bit and their confidence level is a lot higher now than when we last played them."

"But we know they can be beaten."

However Clarkson said even if the Hawks are beaten on Friday night against a team that will be again missing Ling and Ablett, the experience of playing in front of what will be a grand final size crowd will only benefit the club come finals time.

"Irrespective of whether we win or not it's going to be an enormous experience for our players and our coaching staff," he said.

Clarkson conceded the Cats had the edge in big match experience on his team but did not know how much that would count for on Friday night.

"It's hard to say but having played a lot of footy will help you (more) than having a young group you would think but then sometimes you get that unbridled enthusiasm with youth as well."

"Their back six in particular is very experienced - they average about 170 games between them - and they know when to play on an opponent and when to zone off and so much of their game is built around their defence."

The Hawks have the game's hottest key forward pairing of Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead - who have kicked 125 goals between them this season - but Clarkson knows his team will have to get the ball in quickly to the big pair to stand a chance of breaking down a Geelong defence that has only conceded 100 points or more on four occasions in the past 36 matches and has not conceded more than 70 points in