Geelong's gifted forward Steve Johnson believes he and Cats ruckman Brad Ottens have timed their runs perfectly.

Without either one or both for long stretches of 2009, the Cats wobbled noticeably in the run towards the finals but both have resumed to play key roles leading into Saturday's AFL grand final against St Kilda.

Johnson's surgically repaired hip appeared to have recovered brilliantly in last Saturday's preliminary final win over Collingwood, and Ottens has built similarly into form after his return from a longterm knee problem.

"I've been pulling up really well from each session I do, so day by day I've just been improving and it's been great that I've been able to recover and give myself the opportunity to play tomorrow," Johnson said on Friday.

"That's all we've needed to do (come back smoothly), we haven't wanted to come back and hold too many expectations on ourselves, just come in and play a role for the side, and Otto's done that really well.

"He's shown how important he is and with each game we've played we're going to get better, and we've each been pulling up a lot better from each training session we've been doing, so hopefully we're close to cherry-ripe tomorrow."

Johnson's preparations for the big day will be typically laconic, allowing him to relax right up until the time he takes the field.

Chocolate helps, too.

"I try to just keep things pretty normal and I don't really switch on until just before the game, so I'll just be trying to keep my body feeling good maybe stretching, massage, those sorts of things, and probably eat some chocolate," he said.

"I'm on the peppermint chocolate at the moment."

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