Geelong defender Jake Kolodjashnij puts his hand up to stop Sydney star Isaac Heeney

Isaac Heeney was the best man on the ground when Geelong last played Sydney as he booted five goals. A Cats defender has put his hand up to blanket the Swan.

In-form Geelong defender Jake Kolodjashnij has confirmed he will take Sydney star Isaac Heeney in a match-up that could swing Saturday’s grand final.

Jake Kolodjashnij flies on Isaac Heeney earlier this year.

Heeney dominated in round 2 when the Swans beat the Cats, booting five goals and picking up three Brownlow Medal votes.

While he dominated that night, the clean-cut All-Australian Swan has been quiet so far this finals series, booting one goal each in Sydney’s two wins.

Kolodjashnij looms as a suitable match-up given he has played on dangerous medium-sized forwards throughout his career.

Most famously, Kolodjashnij manned Dustin Martin in the 2020 grand final, and while Martin booted four goals to win the Norm Smith Medal, Kolodjashnij played the champion as tight as he could.

Kolodjashnij tried to stop Dustin Martin in 2020. Photo by Michael Klein

The reliable Cat is coming off possibly the best game of his career in the preliminary final win over the Brisbane Lions, when he had a career-high 23 disposals.

“ (Heeney) is a quality player, that is probably the match up most likely for me when he is forward,” Kolodjashnij said.

“He had a really good game last time so if I can limit his influence as best I as possible that is going to go a long way in helping us win.”

Kolodjashnij’s defence looks set to face hampered Swan Sam Reid, who has been under an injury cloud all week due to a sore groin.

The defender was outstanding in the preliminary final. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

The Cats will try and exploit Reid and Lance Franklin by running hard to attack whenever possible.

“We have a really good running back six so we are going to try and run off our opponents and test them out where we can,” Kolodjashnij said.

The defender’s career-best performance in the preliminary final game after he was only a 50-50 proposition to play as he worked through a knee injury.

Kolodjashnij admitted he did fear he would be forced to watch the final from the stands and just took it “day-by-day” to get fit.

“You don’t get the chance to play prelims all that often so I wanted to put my best foot forward and take it in my stride,” he said.

“I was lucky to tick the boxes and play and it was an awesome result in the end.”

Originally published as Geelong defender Jake Kolodjashnij puts his hand up to stop Sydney star Isaac Heeney