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Fresh from their AFL qualifying final slaughter, victorious Geelong players will watch teammates Tom Hawkins and Cam Guthrie make VFL returns on Saturday.

Tanner Bruhn and his Geelong teammates have earned a relaxing day in the crowd on Saturday, watching two familiar faces stake their own AFL finals claims.

In the wake of their qualifying final obliteration of Port Adelaide, the Cats could not be better placed.

They have the week off ahead of a home preliminary final, while veterans Tom Hawkins and Cam Guthrie will return from injury in Geelong's home VFL match against Southport.

Hawkins (foot) and Guthrie (achilles) have been long-term injuries this season.

Tom Stewart was also a last-minute withdrawal from Thursday night's thrashing, while Geelong opted against recalling Sam De Koning.

So the Cats have plenty of the best sort of pressure, with ample competition for preliminary final selection.

"That will be a good contest, to welcome Hawk and Cam back. We'll go and watch and see how they go," Bruhn said at Melbourne Airport on Friday.

"We look forward to seeing the big fella (Hawkins) run around tomorrow, it will be a bit different. It will be a bit of a reception out there for him.

"(However) it goes, we have a great mindset. It's just that next-man up mentality.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how Hawk goes tomorrow, but we'll have a great plan, prepare well and see how we go."

Bruhn was the latest Cat admitting to surprise that Thursday night was so lopsided.

"You don't think games are going to go like that. But we turned up, we were up for the fight and it was obviously a great result," he said.

It was the first final at Geelong for Bruhn, who returned to his home town in late 2022 after two seasons at GWS.

"These are always the games you want to be a part of. For me personally, this is a big reason why I wanted to come home - to be play in big game, big crowds," he said.

"It's only a small step, we have a big job to do."

Bruhn overcame a broken hand and concussion this season to be a key contributor in the Cats' midfield against Port.

With the Giants playing Sydney in the other qualifying final, Bruhn admits to thinking about the potential of coming up against his old teammates later this month.

"It's come up in conversation a little bit," Bruhn said.

"I love those boys, I'm keen to see how they go and if that was to happen, I'd be rapt.

"(But) I don't mind who we play."

One of the highlights of Thursday night was Geelong forward Jeremy Cameron setting the early tone with a freakish snapped goal.

"He kicks a goal like at the start of the game and you think 'are we on tonight?'," Bruhn said.

"That's sort of how the game went. He does things like that week-in, week-out - so it blows over your head a little bit.

"You sit back and watch like a fan. He's super-important for us - if he's going to bring stuff like that to the game, we're going to be better for it."