GEELONG'S history of finals heartbreak is not driving this year's Cats any more than other seasons, star defender Tom Stewart says.

Chris Scott's men blasted their way into a fourth preliminary final in five years on Saturday night, caning an outmatched Collingwood by 68 points at the Gabba.

That consistently excellent run is yet to be franked by a Grand Final appearance, let alone a flag, but Stewart said the past was just that to him.

"I don't know if it burns any more than just the fact I want the opportunity to play in a Grand Final," Stewart told reporters.

"The last few years have obviously been disappointing, but that's why we front up every year and give ourselves another opportunity to go again.

"There's no more added desire because of those previous results. We're just looking forward to playing in another prelim and giving ourselves an opportunity to play in a Grand Final."

Geelong was a popular target after its qualifying final defeat to Port Adelaide last week meant the club had lost 12 of its past 16 finals.

There was no shortage of media material for the Cats to consume if they chose to, although Stewart – while aware of the criticism – said that wasn't a source of motivation they needed.

"I don't think internally we really needed that to sharpen us," he said. 

"We were obviously really disappointed with the way we played over in Adelaide, but we knew if we produced what we've produced all year, we were going to be held in really good stead.

"Last night was a bit of an anomaly with the way we played and how well we did play, in terms of the margin of victory, but we knew our capacity was good enough to match it against most teams."

Stewart offered only a couple of loose theories on Geelong's ability to win all of its four games this year at the Gabba, where it will face Brisbane on Saturday night.

One was the similar dimensions to the MCG, where the Cats have won six of their nine games since the start of last season, and the other was its "closed in" nature, like GMHBA Stadium.