Josh Caddy has some sound advice for his finals-inexperienced Tiger teammates, as they prepare to kick off their 2017 September campaign against his former club Geelong in Friday night’s qualifying final at the MCG.

Caddy, who played in six finals during his 71-game career at Geelong before joining Richmond during last year’s AFL trade period, believes it’s important to keep everything as normal as possible and not get caught up in all the hype surrounding the September action.

“It sounds clichéd, but the one thing I’ve learned in finals is just to treat it like another game,” Caddy said.

“If you get overawed and overthink it, think that it’s this massive new thing, that’s when you freeze up and things don’t go so well.  

“So what I have learned in playing finals is just to try and keep everything pretty normal.”

Caddy played in one winning final for Geelong (last year’s qualifying final v Hawthorn) and his best finals performance was in the Cats’ 2014 semi-final loss to North Melbourne, where he finished with 26 disposals, including 15 contested possessions, five inside-50s, four clearances, five marks, three goal assists and one goal.