The margins were the same, but the performances were poles apart.

Geelong head into Saturday night’s AFL elimination final against Fremantle at the MCG after 34-point wins over Western Bulldogs and then Sydney.

The Cats have some of the best recent form among the finalists, winning seven out of eight matches.

But defender Josh Hunt mused after the Bulldogs win that if the Cats did not improve in a hurry, their September would not last long.

They were scratchy and leaked goals in the second half.

Then came last weekend’s outstanding win over Sydney.

Hunt said watching the video edits from that game in the last few days had been a pleasure.

“That’s what you need for the finals – the massive pressure you put on the opposition, the tackling, just all that grunt sort of work that a lot of people don’t notice,” Hunt said.

“It’s all the blocks and the real physical side.

“Finals tend to become a wearying kind of battle and not so free-flowing.

“Last weekend’s effort against Sydney, who are a great contested footy side … we really matched them in that area.”

The Cats are in familiar territory, having won three of the last five premierships and making every finals series since 2006.

But this will also be the first time in that golden era that they have not had the double chance.

“I guess it’s no different to any other year where we go in and expect nothing but a win,” Hunt said.

Fremantle also boast good pre-finals form, winning eight out of nine, and it looms as a tough clash.

Midfielder Steve Johnson’s suspension highlighted the issue of tribunal carryover points for all the finalists, but especially Geelong.

Hunt is one of several Cats who also have carryover points, but he said they could not allow it to affect their attack on the ball.

“You’re playing in a final and as soon as you cross that line, you have no other thing going through your mind but winning the footy and helping your team-mates get into another final,” he said.