The Cats this week have taken every opportunity to downplay a contest so big host broadcaster Channel Seven has opted to show it live in Melbourne from 7.30pm, and so big the MCC said it will probably - given half-decent weather - draw a crowd in excess of 85,000 despite that live telecast.

As if reading from a script, coach Mark Thompson, football manager Neil Balme and president Frank Costa have all but declared the sell-out rumble at the MCG just another game.

"I think Bomber (Thompson) is just trying to make sure his players focus on the reality of the game and that they don't get carried away by the hype about whether it's going to be a blockbuster and what it's going to do for crowds," Costa said.

"He wants his players to focus."

Balme was straight to the point. "I don't think it's up to us to convince everyone it's going to be a good game. It speaks for itself."

Cats' small forward Shannon Byrnes even declared the Magpies were the team to beat.

"Collingwood have been the benchmark so far," Byrnes told the Cats' website. "I wouldn't quite say we are underdogs but we play a team at the top of their game and we are coming for them instead of them coming for us.

"We are the hunters this time."

A big call from a team that has won two of the past three premierships and beaten the Magpies four of the past five times they have met.

Indeed, when these combatants last met, in a preliminary final last year, the Magpies kicked just six goals and were mauled by 73 points.

The Cats also won their round-three clash by 27 points. But the Magpies, no doubt, are taking heart from their stunning 86-point win under lights in round eight, 2008, and a five-point defeat in the 2007 preliminary final - Nathan Buckley's last match.

"Whether Collingwood can replicate that spirit and put real pressure on, they are going to have to do that again to beat the Cats," AFL legend Wayne Carey told BPL in his weekly podcast.

"I think the Cats right now are the yardstick again."

That was highlighted in how they destroyed the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba last Saturday night, with Steve Johnson bagging six and Tom Hawkins striking form in a role split between forward and mobile ruckman.

In his return from a club-imposed suspension, small forward Mathew Stokes was also lively. Add to that the slick form of usual suspects - Gary Ablett, Joel Selwood and Jimmy Bartel - and there's much for the Magpies to work through this week.

"They just have so much quality going through the midfield," Carey said of the Cats.

"You are going to see what I think is a very good side in Collingwood, no real superstars. Although Swan, Didak and Cloke were good on the weekend, they are just a good, even, workmanlike team against really a team of superstars."

Importantly for the Magpies, Cloke has hit peak form, bagging five goals against Fremantle last week after managing just 11 in seven games. Remember, he played a critical role in the 2007 preliminary final and may now be ready to shed the cloak of inconsistency that has frustrated Magpie fans.

It's the prospect of his match-up on Matthew Scarlett, the premier full-back of the past decade, which has Carey excited.

"That's going to be a big test for Travis," he said.

"If they keep him quiet, then all of a sudden a few goals dry up. Where do the Pies get their goals from and they become reliant on those small forwards again."

That may not be such a worry now. There's greater depth since Chris Dawes has emerged as a power forward, while recruits Darren Jolly and Luke Ball and the development of Dayne Beams and Steele Sidebottom have added spice, helping the Magpies average 10 different goal-kickers per week and kick 20-plus goals for three straight weeks.

In saying that, the likes of Leon Davis and Jack Anthony have struggled in finals or in marquee games, while Alan Didak hasn't been a consistent performer when the heat has been on.

The somewhat new-look Magpies could have up to five players out from the team that managed just six goals in last year's preliminary final.

"The year we missed the flag, in 2008, the only team that beat us before the grand final was Collingwood. They beat us by 86 points. That just shows you they can play," a wary Costa said.

It's interesting to note that both sides will likely have 13 players with between 80 to 200 games to their credit, meaning the Magpies now cannot use inexperience as an excuse.

Just how Costa managed to excuse his comments last month - when he claimed Mick Malthouse was a control freak and that had been the reason why Balme had defected from the Magpies to the Cats - would have been fascinating to know.

Costa did not want to tread over old ground this week but said he had brokered peace with Magpies' president Eddie McGuire and chief executive Gary Pert.

"I spoke to Eddie. He was as good as gold. I spoke to Gary Pert, too. They were OK. There were no problems there," Costa said.

There, however, could be fall-out of another kind if the Magpies lose. As leading AFL commentator Garry Lyon noted, there is more riding on this clash for the Black and White than for the Cats.

The Cats have proven themselves on the biggest stage - the Magpies haven't. Yes, just another sub-plot in what promises to be one of the games of the year.