SYDNEY Swans champion Adam Goodes looms as the major hurdle in front of Carlton as Brett Ratten plots a course into the second week of the finals.

The coach has a tried and true remedy to the dual-Brownlow Medallist’s game breaking ability in Bryce Gibbs, but the young Blue was coy on the possibility of renewing his battle with Goodes in the lead-up to Sunday’s elimination final.

Gibbs’ well-documented effort in keeping Goodes to just seven disposals in round 16 of 2008 was thought to be a pivotal moment in his burgeoning career and he admitted it might take something similar for Carlton to progress further into September.  

“He’s a champion and I think he plays his best footy in the midfield. His form [there] over the last month has probably gotten them to where they are now so he’s very important,” Gibbs said of Goodes’ role in helping the Swans secure a home final.

“He’s just about got it all hasn’t he?  He’s big, he’s mobile, he can run, he can mark, he kicks goals - wherever he’s playing he’s a danger.

“[But] if Ratts seems to think that [I’m] the match-up that’s best going to suit the team then ‘no worries’.”

The coach rated his young star as close to best on ground two years ago and he earned a Brownlow vote after he racked up 26 possessions in just his 37th AFL game opposed to Goodes.

“I’m not sure if he was injured or if he had a bit of a niggle or something because I’ve played on him since then and he’s been a completely different player," Gibbs said.

“It was an okay game for me and maybe I might have gotten a bit lucky, but when he’s up and going and he’s firing he’s pretty hard to stop.

"If I get the job on him this week I’ll just be looking forward to the challenge.”

Whoever gets the task of curbing his influence this time around, Gibbs said they would have their hands full with the multi-talented veteran.

“You’ve just got to play the ball every time it comes and do your best to either win it yourself or not let him win it,” Gibbs said.

“If he’s playing forward you obviously try and come off and help your teammates and when he’s in the midfield [try to] slow down his run and carry.

“You can’t just let him run around willy nilly otherwise he’s the type of player who wins games off his own boot. There are times in the game when you can hunt the ball up yourself and there are times in the game when you might need to lock onto him for five or 10 minutes.

“Hopefully we’re in a position where we don’t have to worry about him too much, but it’s going to be a good battle.”

Gibbs says a win at ANZ Stadium would be “massive” for the young players at Carlton, many of whom who have already learned a harsh lesson from last year’s elimination final defeat at the hands of the Brisbane Lions.

“Heading into last year having not played in a final, you’re told how it steps up another level,” he said.

“The contested ball and the tackling; it’s fierce and it’s tough and it’s hard and it was all that last year. Being there and playing a game like that is definitely going to hold me in good stead for this year and, no doubt, a lot of the other players that played in that game."