Some may have written off Geelong, but they do so at their peril according to Tom Lonergan.

The defender says the Cats are building something special down the highway, and plan to be a successful club for a long time to come.

"What we've done this year is introduce a heap of young guys, mix them in with the older guys, and try to see where we can get," the 30-year-old told Fairfax Media.

"There's a real excitement factor here for not only this year but the next few years."

The 144-gamer knows the odds are stacking up against them heading into a cut-throat final against North Melbourne but believes his team-mates have the mettle to get over the line.

Steve Johnson has been ruled out, along with Hamish McIntosh and Allen Christensen.

"It's almost like [from the outside] it's our time to fall, but we're trying to beat the system. The system says we should fall down the ladder, but we're doing everything in our power to stay up the top - introduce some young guys, give them as much experience as possible, finals experience, really set them up and get their careers on the way.

"We're doing that, and we're trying to win a premiership as well."

As one of the club's veterans now, Lonergan knows he has to set the tone.

"The biggest message as an older guy is don't think it's going to happen all the time," Lonergan says.

"Get as much out of it. Relish the feeling of the week leading up to finals. Ten other teams are off on holidays, the weather's better, everyone's up and about and playing in front of big crowds.

"My message is don't take anything for granted. Go out there and do the best you can."

Nominated for the All-Australian team, Lonergan is likely to match-up on Drew Petrie but knows he has plenty of support.

"A lot of experience is back there, and we try and project that over the whole team and let them know we'll be fighting tooth and nail to stop goals and also to help them with our attack.

"We've just got to get back to being a really ruthless defensive team, doing it all over the ground. If we can play four quarters of footy - which we haven't been able to do for a long time - it's a great chance to put it on display on Friday night and will go a long way to helping us win."