COLLINGWOOD captain Nick Maxwell says the Magpies' veterans have led the charge in the motivation stakes this week, with eight of them desperate to atone for the lost opportunities of 2002 and 2003.

The Magpies have a collection of players who have tasted grand final action before, owing to the back-to-back deciding clashes with the Brisbane Lions earlier this decade.

Leon Davis, Alan Didak, Josh Fraser, Shane O'Bree, Simon Prestigiacomo and Ben Johnson all played in both grand finals, while Tarkyn Lockyer and Anthony Rocca were involved in the first decider but missed the second after being injured and suspended respectively.

Maxwell, 26, said the experienced group was still haunted by how the two games turned out.

"We've got about six or eight guys that played in the 2002/2003 team, who are obviously really disappointed about how their seasons finished then," he said.

"We've got a lot of guys who are desperate to be part of a premiership, and the preliminary final is the first step there."

The Collingwood skipper said another focus this week had been about ensuring the players didn't experience a mental or physical lull after last Saturday night's exhilarating win over Adelaide.

"We have got a really good balance of senior players, middle-range down to the young guys, and I know with the senior players, it's something they're driving," he said.

"For us, we're thrilled we've reached this preliminary final, and at the moment we just don't want to let it go.

"You don't want to take the emotion from Saturday night and have a let-down this weekend.

"We've really started speaking about Geelong and we're really excited about it."

Collingwood will take on Geelong in the second preliminary final at the MCG on Saturday night, with the winner to play either St Kilda or the Western Bulldogs in the decider the following Saturday.