Beau McCreery doesn’t usually like watching football, but in Round 24 he had no choice.

Suspended for a week, McCreery was consigned to the sidelines for the clash with Essendon as the home and away season came to close.

Normally camping or feeding his passion for cars away from the game, the young Magpie didn’t like the fact he wasn’t going to be out there on game day.

But despite his predisposition against spectating, he actually didn’t mind it.

“It was strange (suspension) because I’ve never had one and I’m not a fan of watching footy,” he said.

“But I actually enjoyed watching the boys, we obviously beat Essendon by a bit so I could sit back and relax.

“I am keen to get some footy back under my belt though.”

It meant he was able to refresh ahead of his second finals series, with the pressure forward put straight back into the team for the Qualifying Final win over Melbourne.

With that seeing him handed another week off, this time alongside all of his teammates, McCreery is as ready as every for a shot at redemption in the Preliminary Final.

“I’ve played one game in four weeks or something like that so I’m very refreshed,” he said.

“Obviously Fly has backed me in a lot with my role so I have a lot of confidence in my role and feel like I’m executing it well so and I just love that he backs me.

“I’m excited to play GWS and there’s obviously a bit of a motivation given it was at this point last year when we lost.”

The 22-year-old said that the first final’s crowd was amazing but expected the Preliminary Final to go to another level.

Looking to add to his 16 goals for the year, McCreery is excited to hear the roar again if he finds the big sticks.

“They’re hectic and I just love hearing them,” he said of the Magpie Army.

“They were pretty nuts on Thursday but it gets us up and gives us energy.

“It’s probably going to be 90-10 in crowd difference and they’ll be loud so hopefully we play some exciting footy.”