The Cats and Saints were then two of the hottest young teams and had several bruising battles. But Riewoldt said any rivalry belonged to another era.
"Geelong has been able to go on and win a premiership and play in another grand final. They've left us in their wake as far as that goes," he said.
Riewoldt agreed with Geelong coach Mark Thompson's assessment that the two teams 'don't like each other very much' but said that should not be mistaken for a lack of respect.
"They are a team we really admire. We've got a healthy respect for them and you don't like any other team, whether they are Geelong or whoever it is. We don't like any of our opposition," Riewoldt said.
This week's match looms as one of the most hyped home and away games of all time, but Riewoldt says the Saints have not changed their preparation.
"It has been business as usual so far for us. It has been hard to ignore and shut out the media focus over the last few weeks. That has been a challenge but I think we've done well to focus on our opponent every week with the constant chatter going on in the background," he said.
"For us, we're excited about the opportunity to test ourselves against the benchmark of the competition and that is what it boils down to for us."
Riewoldt said former Geelong assistant and current Saints forward coach Leigh Tudor would be a wealth of information for his team but St Kilda was yet to seek any information from him.
"He has got a lot of knowledge about their players and the way they like to play. We haven't focussed too heavily on the opposition yet. That will come later in the week and he will have a heavy hand in what gets said there," he said.
Max Hudghton was not seen at Wednesday afternoon's training session as he works on recovering from his ankle injury but the St Kilda skipper says the veteran defender is still a possibility to play.
"He's a chance. He's still going through his rehab this week and doing everything he can to hopefully get up. He loves being out there, Max, and certainly we like having him playing. He will be assessed later in the week but at this stage he's still a chance," he said.
Justin Koschitzke, Brendon Goddard and Sam Fisher also missed the training session because of their personal training programs but all three are expected to be fine for the Geelong clash.
