Hawthorn Captain Luke Hodge has admitted it is up to his team to change their ways if they are going to defeat the Cats in Friday night’s preliminary final.

“Going into the finals we have to do something different,” Hodge told the Sunday Footy Show.

“People say they’ve been good games between Geelong and ourselves, we don’t see it that way.

“We need to change up a little bit, make sure that on the night when it gets tough in the tight situations that we come out on top.”

Hodge was in the stands watching the Cats take on Port Adelaide last Friday night and was impressed with the Cats’ second half.

“The intensity of Port early in the game and then for Geelong to be able to close down their space as we knew they were going to.”
The Cats shooting out of the blocks in the third quarter came as no surprise to Hodge.

“Geelong, that first 15 minutes shows what they're capable of doing, especially in September.

“It's going to be a hot game Friday night."

With Lance Franklin set to return from suspension and Cyril Rioli a chance to return from an ankle injury which has sidelined him since Round 22, the Hawks realise they can’t miss a beat despite the possibility of strong inclusions.

“If you take your foot off the pedal a little bit you’re going to lose.

“We found that last year against Adelaide, we just got through to the Granny and obviously we know what happened last year in the Grand Final.”

Despite the possibility of the Cats losing a number of key players for the match, Hodge said his club knows Geelong is capable of anything.

“One thing that we have seen with Geelong, no matter who they bring in, whether it’s a young or an old player, they come in and play their role and they’ve got more than just the 22 that played last week.”