SYDNEY ruck Brodie Grundy has declared it will take a team approach for the Swans to limit the influence of Fremantle superstar Luke Jackson as the Dockers ruck enters Friday night's preliminary final in game-breaking form. 

Jackson produced one of the performances of the season last Thursday night and turned the semi-final against Geelong with a seven-minute burst that saw him kick two brilliant goals and set up a third. 

The ruck battle shapes as a pivotal aspect of Friday night's preliminary final, with Grundy excited to take on another former Demon when the pair match-up in the middle of the SCG.   

"You've got to do your due diligence with every player that you play at AFL level, and he's certainly right at the top of the tree in terms of quality talent," Grundy said at the Swans' captain's run on Thursday.

"It's going to be a big task, but it's a team responsibility and I'm looking forward to it. 

"He's a unique type of player, and there's not many around like him. He hits the scoreboard, he's good around the stoppage, so it should be a big task."

Jackson finished the semi-final against Geelong with 25 disposals, 35 hitouts, eight clearances and a goal assistant after using his strength to fight through pressure and feed the ball out to Pat Voss for a crucial goal late in the third term. 

His ruck craft earned him two free kicks that he used to convert brilliant long-range goals, but Grundy will be a much more experienced and difficult match-up at stoppages than emerging Geelong big man Mitch Edwards.   

"I played him some six or eight weeks ago, and there wasn't this much of a narrative being spoken about then," Grundy said of his match-up with Jackson.  

"So for me, it's not too different to when we played. We obviously didn't get the result that we wanted, so we need to improve some areas of our game. 

"My match-up with Luke is one part of that and I'm looking forward to playing my role."

Asked on Thursday how his ruckman was approaching the task of playing on Jackson, Sydney coach Dean Cox said his big man would be as prepared as anyone for the job. 

"It's going to be a great battle," Cox said. 

"What Luke's done for that football club and throughout his footy career is different to what other players can do. 

"We need to understand – and Brodie certainly does – his strengths and what he can bring to the Fremantle Football Club. 

"Brodie's really excited about it. He prepares as well as anyone, he's diligent with that, and that doesn't change this week."

Meanwhile, Cox was tight-lipped on whether midfielder Jai Serong would be used in a tagging role on Friday night, and whether brother Caleb could be in his sights. 

"The great thing about Jai ever since we've had him at our football club is his flexibility," Cox said. 

"The importance of the roles that he plays through the middle of the ground has helped our team immensely, and that'll happen again Friday night. 

"I couldn't be happier with the player that we got at the start of the year, what he's turned into, and how he's transformed our team.

"The part about playing these teams at this time of year is the calibre of players that they have. 

"But our team is a very hard two-way running team, and that's what we need.

"It's about trying to nullify their influence at times, but it's also about playing a system where we don't want to allow easy ball anywhere."