Hawthorn were supposed to be too old and too slow in 1991 but their 38-year-old skipper Michael Tuck led the Hawks to their fifth premiership in nine years.

Geelong fullback Matthew Scarlett says the Cats will have the same tag thrown at them following their 18.12 (120) to 11.13 (79) loss to Collingwood in Friday night's AFL preliminary final at the MCG.

Midway through the third quarter the Magpies were 81 points clear, before they started easing up with one eye on next week's grand final and the Cats clawed back some pride late.

"We've got a special group and we're not going to just accept that we're too old and all that kind of stuff," the 31-year-old Scarlett said.

A five-time All-Australian, Scarlett played in the 2007 and 2009 premiership sides and believes there's another flag left in the current lineup.

"Darren Milburn's our oldest player (at 33). It certainly wasn't his fault that we lost," Scarlett said.

"I think he wants to play on but I'm not too sure. I hope so.

"As a group we've just got to get better. They annihilated us early and we were a bit shellshocked.

"They're a great side and they're going to be hard to beat next week.

"It's not as if we went out there and didn't try. We weren't good enough.

"It's disappointing, the realisation that we just weren't good enough this year.

"We got smashed by a great side."

Scarlett says it will be a massive challenge for the Cats to come back in pre-season and improve for next year.

"I know everyone is going to say we're too old and write us off and the era's over," the 246-game veteran said.

"We've just got to get better and adapt to the game.

"I've never seen a side pressure ... They just swarm you.

"It's like they've got extra players. I've never seen anything like that.

"They put a lot of pressure on you and force you to over-handball."

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