GEELONG captain Tom Harley has warned his players against trying to step up a gear during finals as the Cats bid for successive premierships.

Harley said the league's most feared side needed simply to continue producing the form it has shown this season, otherwise it could be derailed.

"We don't really talk about cranking up gears and things like that," Harley said.

"We control what we can, which is the things which we measure internally as a club."

Geelong will clash with St Kilda in the first qualifying final at the MCG on Sunday.

"It's probably a different game in terms of the media scrutiny and things like that, and the intensity of the game perhaps at the start.

"But it's just really important that the guys don't sort of expect to go another level because that's a bit of a dangerous game, I think.

"Just back what you know and do that to the best of your ability."

Both Harley and coach Mark Thompson said the side which won last year's long-awaited flag had not changed much in terms of ability but the extra year of experience would be beneficial in September.

"I think from a supporter base, it's not the real pressure-cooker environment just because (last year) it had been 44 years before we'd won one," Harley said.

"As far as positions as to where we were this time last year, it's pretty much the same - we finished on top by a couple of games and have a double chance and a final at the MCG on Sunday.

"The experience is probably a good thing.

"How you measure a better side, I'm not quite sure - we've had more wins but it's hard to compare year to year.

"We're pretty similar and we're pretty confident where we're at."