GEELONG'S impressive depth and preparation has the club well placed for the finals, coach Chris Scott says.
The Cats made light work of the Brisbane Lions on Sunday, demolishing them by 60 points at the Gabba.
With their three most recent wins coming over bottom-10 sides, Scott was measured, but said he was confident his side could go deep into the finals.
"I think it was always difficult to get a form-line coming into finals," Scott said.
"I don't think we've got any excuses with our preparation coming into a finals series.
"I'm really confident that our best footy's good enough."
Scott said Geelong has good depth ahead of the finals, which has been illustrated by its ability to rest senior players such as Jimmy Bartel and Andrew Mackie in recent weeks.
"We have a much bigger squad of players that we think are AFL-ready than we've had in the previous couple of years," he said.
"Our high-level players are performing at a very good level, but the depth is crucial."
The Cats have an unusually high number of key position players to chose from compared to other clubs, although Scott said it poised a tricky issue.
"We've got depth with our key positions as well, so much so that it's a complex question for us – who should play and then where they should play," he said.
"We've got to be careful, because it's a bit of a luxury, it's something that we've been able to address with our list management, but we've got to make sure the balance is right too."
Scott said Lachie Henderson, who played forward and kicked two goals after spending the vast majority of the season down back, would not be making a permanent move.
"We've trained it a bit, but there's nothing like real AFL intensity," he said.
"He's proven at the level as a forward, we probably think he's more of a defender, but it's nice to have that option."
Sam Menegola (33 disposals) played the best game of his short career, and Scott said he was close to best on ground.
The midfielder had spent a combined four years on Hawthorn and Fremantle's rookie lists, before being drafted by the Cats at the end of last year.
"He had a really good pre-season with us, and we were probably thinking he was in and around our round one team. And then NAB Challenge game one he had a pretty serious knee injury and missed the first half of the year.
"So it's not a surprise to us that he's in our team at the moment, but I guess you don't really expect someone who hasn't played AFL footy at all to play the way he has.
"He's a big midfielder, he's an elite runner, really strong over the ball, so the signs are good."
The Cats came into this match in fifth position and now sit in third with the crucial double chance.
If the ladder stays as it is, they will play Adelaide in Adelaide.
Scott said while they hadn't talked about the importance of percentage, it was something the whole club was aware of.
"It's obviously a factor and the players are aware of it, we're aware of it. But I think the risk is you can start focusing on the outcome, and forget how you get there."