Geelong defender Harry Taylor says the Cats tackle shortage on Friday night played a major role in the 36-point loss to the Hawks.

Lacking to put pressure on the man in the heat of the contest, Geelong finished with a low total of 59 tackles compared to the Hawks 81.

Taylor admits that this hole in the Cats stats sheet will need to be rectified before Friday night’s Semi Final against the Kangaroos.

“That’s something we need to fix up and address during the week, so we can come out next week with a little bit more intensity in the tackling,” Taylor told Cats TV after Friday night’s Qualifying Final.

Despite a disappointing start to the finals, the Cats will enter their next chapter in this year finals feeling positive.

“We’ve always got strong belief that we can win the game no matter who we play and no matter what stage of the game it is,” Taylor said.

“We need to move on quickly and try and be as positive as we can and review the loss and focus on next week.”

Mathew Stokes, who delivered a powerful game of 28 disposals, five marks, four clearances and two goal assists, agrees that the Cats won’t let themselves be perturbed by one loss.

“The belief is still there, it doesn’t go after one performance and for a half we were really competitive,” Stokes said.

“I thought we were on top of them at stages and if you take away a couple of easy goals, we were right in that game.”

Catch Stokes' post game interview with Cats TV here.

Click on the video above to hear more from Harry Tayor after Friday night's final.

Geelong Cats will meet North Melbourne on Friday night at the MCG in a Semi Final at 7:50pm EST. Click here to purchase tickets.