JIMMY Bartel has issued a warning to anyone preparing to write off the Cats.
The three-time premiership player is adamant the club has enough talent in its ranks to make it four flags in nine seasons.
"I don't hope, I know we've got another one in us," Bartel told geelongcats.com.au.
"I guess I'm quietly confident that we've got the ability. We just need a bit of luck and form and good management."
Geelong has made the finals in 10 of the past 11 seasons.
While proud of that, Bartel is keen for the Cats' current squad to be given the chance to prove itself in its own right, rather than being compared to teams of years gone by.
"I think people have got to stop looking at the fact that we've been up since 2007 or even 2004 when some of us older guys played in a prelim," he said.
"I think people have got to stop thinking that we're defying the odds. There are only a couple of us left from 2007.
"It's a completely different squad, it's a different coaching staff. Everything about the club is different.
"We're a new side trying to make our own new little mark."
The addition of Mitch Clark is one of the many changes made to the Cats' list after last season's straight-sets exit from the finals, and Bartel has no doubt that Clark can have a big impact.
"I am excited about Mitch because I remember playing against him," Bartel said. "He was so explosive and dangerous.
"Once he and 'Hawk' [Tom Hawkins] have played a dozen games together they could be pretty special."
Bartel is in the last year of the four-year contract he signed with Geelong prior to the 2012 season.
But although he is now 31, the 259-game veteran is confident he has a couple more years left at footy's highest level, not that he spends much time pondering such things.
"I've never really thought to far ahead," he said. "I don't ever think, 'I'll play for another three years or two years.' I just see what happens.
"At the end of this year we'll see if they still want me around.
"But I still enjoy playing the game and I still think we're super-competitive.
"That's what excites me: knowing we've got the talent to push for another premiership. That's all I'm really driven by."
Bartel gets so wound up about winning premierships that he finds it impossible to watch the Grand Final if the Cats are not in it.
In fact, he has not watched a Grand Final as a spectator since he started his AFL career.
"I'm jealous of anyone else who wins a premiership," he said. "I get bitter and twisted.
"The only team that I want to see the premiership is us and when we don't I spit the dummy! I'm a spoilt footballer."
