IN BIBLICAL times, it was loaves and fishes. At Skilled Stadium yesterday, the Geelong cheer squad relied on snags and burgers to feed the masses. One thousand of each — "and the butcher is on standby" — as well as 150 loaves of white bread and 20 kilograms of onions, sliced and fried.

More than 10,000 fans flocked to the ground for a 9am training session, the Cats' last appearance in town before tomorrow's AFL grand final against Port Adelaide at the MCG.

Cars were parked haphazardly at every angle in the parkland outside the stadium. As people poured through the only open gate to the ground, they passed a giant Sherrin-shaped hot air balloon, as well as women selling grand final editions of the AFL Record for $15 each.

Among the white objects adorned with navy horizontal painted stripes that were sighted randomly in the precinct were an old Volvo, a set of walking canes, a life-sized plastic stallion and a Scottish terrier.

The ground was abuzz with a rumour that Prime Minister John Howard would turn up in the crowd, ahead of his 10.30am morning tea appointment with local politicians in Ocean Grove. Instead, the only politician spotted basking in the sunshine, replete with Cats scarf, was State Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu.

More popular on the terraces were former greats such as Bob Davis and Doug Wade, the latter of whom has a grandstand named after him at the southern end of the ground.

Davis, who delights in describing himself as "the last of the non-thinking coaches", was at the helm in 1963 when Geelong most recently lifted the premiership cup. Asked how different the scene was at Thursday afternoon training before that match, he replied: "We may have had 100 here to training, if that, and all we did was have a jog around the oval and have a think about how we'd go up on the bus on Saturday. I wasn't a hard-riding coach, to be truthful."

Davis excuses himself. He's supposed to be in Melbourne in 20 minutes, he says, but every few footsteps he is stopped and heartily congratulated, and another fan cheers out "Good on yer, Bob!". He is not one to say no.

But of course, the reason thousands are there is to see the 22 players who will line up for the national anthem tomorrow. The hum of anticipation is broken at the first hint of a footballer appearing on the ground. "Here they come!" shouts a young boy named Will.

On to the turf ambles a group of 13 footballers, led by popular red-head Cameron Ling. The crowd is on its feet and cheering, but isn't expecting this. Where is the rest of the team? Where is Gary Ablett? Cameron Mooney? It turns out this is the midfielder group, which includes Brownlow medallist Jimmy Bartel. The club is sticking to its Thursday routine of carving the squad into smaller groups for what it calls ASD (advanced skill development).

As such, ruckman Steven King is out there with the man he has replaced in tomorrow's team, Mark Blake, both practising palming their hitouts to running players.

A woman's voice makes an announcement over the public address system, and the crowd falls respectfully silent. She explains how the team will train in four groups, which nobody in the crowd seems to understand, but when she ends with "Thank you. Go Cats!", they all cheer along anyway.

Next out is the group of defenders, including captain Tom Harley and All-Australian centrehalf-back Matthew Egan, whose injured foot is encased in a moon boot. The crowd is up and roaring for fresh faces.

At 9.50am, the defenders are cheered off, and the ground is empty. Ten thousand fans are nonplussed to be watching an empty oval, and entertain themselves by waving to the Channel Seven helicopter, and laughing along at a few antics from mascot Half Cat.

There is a disjointed feel to this whole morning, but as football manager Neil Balme points out later: "Our objective today was not to give a show; our objective is to give a show on Saturday."

The woman's voice is back on the PA, pleading with the owner of a silver Mazda sedan who is "blocking the Shell servo … and Go Cats!!" Another cheer.

But nothing compared to the one at 10.15am, when the forwards trot onto the ground, and Mooney becomes the first player to think to wave to the stands. Now the fans are in a frenzy. The forwards take a few shots on the run from 35 metres. Soon, they are replaced by a group that includes Ablett and Steve Johnson, and the cheers are louder still.

Coach Mark Thompson wanders on to the turf, and receives the warmest applause of the morning when he kicks a goal from a set shot, 25 metres out on the boundary. He doffs his cap.

The PA woman now has unearthed two lost children, and manages to get one last roar for another "Go Cats!". It is 11.20am, and training is over. Never at any stage during training had the supporters seen the Geelong team assembled as a group, and one club insider said it was not possible because they took turns shuttling over to Geelong Grammar for a swim.

This morning, the Cats will head to Melbourne for the grand final parade, before another training run on the MCG. Of the 25 in the main group, 20 will stay in a Melbourne hotel on Friday night, the others will sleep in their own beds.

On Sunday, the Cats will be back at Kardinia Park for a family day. Should they finally return victorious, expect an even bigger crowd and the PA woman to get many more chances to say "Go Cats!".