JED BEWS may not be there to perform his usual shutdown role on star Crow Eddie Betts but in his absence, Geelong defender Jake Kolodjashnij has put his hand up for the job.

Traditionally, Bews has had a good record on the dangerous Adelaide small forward but the negating defender is sidelined with a lingering groin injury and is still several weeks from a return. 

That's where Kolodjashnij comes in, with the Cats' coaching staff not shying away from handing him the big tasks in the first few rounds of the season. 

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Kolodjashnij spent time on Jordan De Goey in round one and shut Christian Petracca out of the game in Geelong's 80-point thrashing of Melbourne last Saturday night, with the 23-year-old growing in confidence each week.

"I've been looking forward to the challenge and I like playing on the quality forwards, and Eddie's one of those," Kolodjashnij said as the Cats flew out for Adelaide on Wednesday.

"So hopefully I can play on him and do a good job.

"I like the challenge. Being on that last line and playing on some quality forwards I really relish it. It's quite rewarding if you can limit their influence." 

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Kolodjashnij said he had spoken to Bews about the best way to play Betts, with the emphasis of being physical on him and not allowing him to get to spots where he is most dangerous. 

"Jed's pretty good like that so I had a chat to him earlier in the week and he's really physical on him and he just tries to limit his movement and his crafty forward stuff," Kolodjashnij said. 

The Cats flew out for Adelaide on Wednesday afternoon with Lachie Henderson a confirmed starter for his first game of the season, replacing the injured Jack Henry (hamstring).

Midfielder Jordan Cunico and ruckman Ryan Abbott boarded the plane with the Geelong squad, with teams to be officially released on Wednesday evening.

Kolodjashnij said the five-day break between the Melbourne and Adelaide games would not have too much of an effect on the club's preparation. 

"It's probably been a little more off-legs but we've done plenty of touch (at training)," he said.

"We nailed our main session and we're feeling really good coming into the game."

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