Tasmanian Cat Jake Kolodjashnij primed for Selwood and Ablett’s milestone games

Tasmanian Jake Kolodjashnij will feature in the milestone game of Cats teammates Joel Selwood and Gary Ablett — but don’t ask him to pick which one is better.

GEELONG defender Jake Kolodjashnij says it will take a finals-like performance to beat the red-hot Suns at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday to mark the milestone games of Cats champions Joel Selwood and Gary Ablett.

The Geelong skipper and magic Ablett will rack up 650 AFL games between them in a rare major milestone double.

Kolodjashnij, a 24-year-old Tasmanian, said “don’t ask” him to decide which Cat better.

“You can’t give me that one — I honestly couldn’t split them,” he said.

“I’ve played with Selwood the longest and he’s an amazing player the way he goes about it, and Gaz is one of the best of all-time so I couldn’t pick between them.

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Geelong’s Jake Kolodjashnij gets a kick away as fellow Tasmanian Ben Brown, of the Kangaroos, arrives. Picture: MICHAEL KLEIN

“It’s a big week for the club and I’m super confident to have the opportunity to play with those guys in their milestone games.

“They are legends of the game and the Geelong footy club.

“The Suns are in hot form. They’ve won three out of four, so we’ve got to treat it like a finals game and bring our best to beat them.”

Geelong sits inside the top eight at number six while the Gold Coast Suns are second with only a loss to Port Adelaide in round one to blemish their record.

A date with the Cats in Geelong may not be the killer road trip of preview years.

Carlton upset the home side there in round three and Melbourne came within three points of a boilover last weekend.

Kolodjashnij said don’t read anything into it — GMHBA Stadium is still their fortress.

“A lot of the teams that come down are quite intimidated,” he said.

“We’ve had a great run there. We’ve got a great record and we play the ground quite well.

“It gives you extra confidence going into games because of our record and that we know the ground, so it’s a great opportunity to get another win on the board.”

It has been seven years since Kolodjashnij was snapped up from the Tassie Mariners under-18s as pick 41 in the National Draft to now be a key defender at one of the AFL’s powerhouse clubs.

Jake Kolodjashnij battles with Bulldog Easton Wood. Picture: MICHAEL KLEIN

“It’s been pretty crazy,” he said.

“There have been a lot of lessons learned along the way and I’ve still got a lot of lessons to learn.

“I’m just loving every moment being able to represent the Geelong footy club.”