Cats' Taylor ready to fly

IT DOESN’T matter that it is a grand final.

It wouldn’t matter if it was a NAB Challenge game.

Or even if it was a social game of bowls.

If you’re out on the park, you want to win.

That’s the message from Geelong defender Harry Taylor, as the Cats prepare for Friday night’s 2009 NAB Cup Grand Final against Collingwood.

Both teams have played with intent in the pre-season competition, so it’s no surprise that they’re facing off in the final game. And with Collingwood the only side to beat the Cats last year until the Hawks rolled them in the big one, Geelong will have a point to prove.

“(Coach) Mark Thompson made a really good point in his press conference after the game (against Carlton) – when you go out to play a game, whether it be tennis or whether it be football, you want to win,” he said.

“And I know a lot of that drive is within a lot of the Geelong players.

“It’s a grand final appearance, and we’re going to be really excited about that, and we’re looking forward to going out and playing some really good football and making sure we can play well on the big stage.”

Taylor is something of a military buff, and on Wednesday trekked to Avalon to check out some of the awesome military hardware assembled for this weekend’s airshow.

But at Docklands on Friday night he will be looking to make life difficult for smaller flying creatures.

“I’m feeling good personally, and the team’s had our main session already this week and everyone’s travelling well, and has pulled up well from the previous game,” he said over the roar of an acrobatics plane practicing just 100m away.

“We’re going to go in with a pretty good side, and we’re just really looking forward to a great challenge, and really getting our season off to a good start.

“We’ve got a couple of players not quite ready yet – I know (captain and fellow defender) Tom Harley isn’t playing.

“But I think most of the boys are pretty fit and healthy and play some good team football – do our structures and things that we’ve been trying to practice, and make sure we really play well.”

Dream Team watch – Harry Taylor is rated a $261,300 defender in Toyota AFL Dream Team 2009.