A determination to join the famed list of Geelong premiership players was one of the key reasons Cats’ best-and-fairest Cam Guthrie shunned opportunities to explore free agency and signed a four-year deal with the club.

Guthrie has re-committed to the Cats until the end of 2025 when he will be 33 years old, all but guaranteeing he’ll be a one-club player.

Having made his AFL debut in 2011, Guthrie is the only current Cat to have been on the list when the club won its last premiership without being selected for that match.

Guthrie is desperate to finish his career as a premiership-winning Cat.

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“There’s a bit of an aspect of that,” Guthrie said.

“Going back to 2011 and that being Geelong’s last grand final win, projecting forward it was always a goal of mine to get in that group and be a premiership player.

“There’s been opportunities over those years but haven’t quite been able to go all the way and 2021 is just another opportunity. I’m looking forward to what the next couple of weeks holds.

“As a playing group and as a club as a whole, it’s just been really exciting for us. We want to be here when the whips are cracking and we are again. We’ll just give ourselves a chance. We’ve settled into Perth in the hub and got through that now. Our eyes are on Friday night.”

Friday night will be Guthrie’s fifth preliminary final and he’ll be looking to advance to his second grand final after being part of the team that lost to Richmond last season.

He was influential during the win over Greater Western Sydney and will play a key role against a powerful Melbourne midfield.

Guthrie knows the Cats need to find a way to stop Demons star Clayton Oliver. Excluding last season’s shortened games, Oliver has averaged 37 disposals from the previous five matches against Geelong.

Oliver had 37 possessions, nine clearances and kicked two goals when the teams clashed in round 23 at GMHBA Stadium.

“Clayton’s a really good player,” Guthrie said.

“He obviously loves to get his hands dirty and win that contested ball. He played really well against us in round 23 and was possibly the difference that night.

“I think we’ll have a good chat about him this week and in some of our meetings. But again, as a midfield group, we respect them as a whole. They’ve got a lot of really good contributors.”