PORT Adelaide star Chad Cornes has backed away from coach Mark Williams' warning that minor premier Geelong is yet to prove itself under finals pressure.
Though he's been known to make big statements himself in the past, Cornes was guarded when asked about the Cats' runaway success ahead of their match against the Power this week.
The Power enjoyed similar levels of regular season excellence in 2002 and 2003 only to fall apart during the finals.
"I don't want to play any mind games with Geelong, I think Choco (Williams) did that yesterday, so we'll leave that to the coach," Cornes said.
"When you're on a roll like that you just feel so confident going into a game and pretty confident you're going to win no matter who you come up against, so I'm sure they're in that position.
"Ablett, Corey and Bartel getting 30 every week, they're pretty hard to stop."
Following Sunday's last minute defeat of Hawthorn in Launceston, Williams said hard-earned experience had shown him a high-flying club like the Cats were only an injury or report away from a possible stumble and would still have questions about how they'd go in finals football.
"The Port Adelaide Football Club has previously finished (around) top three years in a row, one year three games clear, and until that big day comes and the big finals come, you're not exactly sure about what you're going to deliver," Williams said.
"You think you've got it right, so there will be a lot of questions going through the Geelong people's heads.
"I know they've got their leadership group working, and they're saying that's the way to the glory, but you know you've got Cam Mooney there, he's going to stick up for anyone, he's one hit away from being reported and you know that sort of stuff can happen and don't say it can't.
"You can have injuries - we had Stephen Paxman injure his knee in round 22 I think, we had Wakelin get smashed in the face in round 20.
"These sorts of things can happen, and gee they can derail a finals campaign, so there's a lot of games to go."
Though he's been known to make big statements himself in the past, Cornes was guarded when asked about the Cats' runaway success ahead of their match against the Power this week.
The Power enjoyed similar levels of regular season excellence in 2002 and 2003 only to fall apart during the finals.
"I don't want to play any mind games with Geelong, I think Choco (Williams) did that yesterday, so we'll leave that to the coach," Cornes said.
"When you're on a roll like that you just feel so confident going into a game and pretty confident you're going to win no matter who you come up against, so I'm sure they're in that position.
"Ablett, Corey and Bartel getting 30 every week, they're pretty hard to stop."
Following Sunday's last minute defeat of Hawthorn in Launceston, Williams said hard-earned experience had shown him a high-flying club like the Cats were only an injury or report away from a possible stumble and would still have questions about how they'd go in finals football.
"The Port Adelaide Football Club has previously finished (around) top three years in a row, one year three games clear, and until that big day comes and the big finals come, you're not exactly sure about what you're going to deliver," Williams said.
"You think you've got it right, so there will be a lot of questions going through the Geelong people's heads.
"I know they've got their leadership group working, and they're saying that's the way to the glory, but you know you've got Cam Mooney there, he's going to stick up for anyone, he's one hit away from being reported and you know that sort of stuff can happen and don't say it can't.
"You can have injuries - we had Stephen Paxman injure his knee in round 22 I think, we had Wakelin get smashed in the face in round 20.
"These sorts of things can happen, and gee they can derail a finals campaign, so there's a lot of games to go."
