PORT Douglas bashed, crashed and embarrassed Centrals Trinity Beach at Cazalys Stadium on Saturday to book a place in the AFL Cairns grand final.

The Bulldogs talked the talk leading into the preliminary final with coach Dale Hough heaping the pressure on the Crocs, who were staring at two consecutive straight sets finals exits, but they folded like a deck of cards under the relentless Port Douglas pressure.

Brad Cooper's men were too tough, slick and structured in a devastating 128-point win which sent a clear message to their grand final opponent, South Cairns, that they're gunning for them this weekend. The Cutters 32-point semi final triumph has seemingly poked the bear and it has awoken with fury.

In an ominous warning, the preliminary final rout was achieved without Crocs captain Kye Chapple and star pair Hayden Graham and Pete Bury. Port Douglas played it safe with their skipper, withdrawing him from the selected side to get his injured knee cherry ripe for the big dance.

Graham and Bury are also automatic inclusions after serving one-week suspensions, leaving coach Brad Cooper with some difficult decisions to make at the selection table. Their three replacements on Saturday - Daniel Young (four goals), Andrew McLeod (three) and Gavin Jacks (four) - all impressed, with the latter particularly damaging.

If energy was an indicator this match was over at quarter time. The Crocs were swarming all over the Bulldogs and by the six-minute mark of the first term, last week's horror show was a distant memory. They slammed on the first four goals, including two inside 90-seconds through Daniel Young and Jack Riley, while young forward Mitch Bohm kicked back-to-back majors. 

Goals in time-on to Zach Gubbins and Riley, who were both busy early, extended the Crocs lead to 33 at the break but it could easily have been 50.

The second term saw a belated response from Centrals Trinity Beach, who at least started to surge the ball forward. They enjoyed a mini-patch of forward 50 supremacy and cut the deficit to 21-points with the first two goals of the term, but it was as close as they'd get.

It was party time for the Crocs early in the third, a brilliant gather and goal from Jesse Mawson - playing as a permanent forward in Chapple's absence - signalled the beginning of the second half humiliation. The Bulldogs attacked the man harder than the ball and the Crocs were rewarded on the free-kick count for being first in. The Centrals Trinity Beach fans didn't agree, and things threatened to bubble over at times in the Cazalys Stadium grandstand such was the slanging match between the two sets of supporters.