THE UNKNOWN quality that is Adelaide's low-profile forward line does not concern veteran Collingwood defender Simon Prestigiacomo.

Prestigiacomo, who will play his 196th career match against the Crows at the MCG on Saturday, will find himself pitted against second-year big man Kurt Tippett, debutant Taylor Walker or the returning Trent Hentschel.

Injuries have kept Hentschel from playing a home and away game since 2006, while Tippett and Walker still have a lot to prove.

Regardless, Prestigiacomo said he has full faith he can do the job required of him.

"We’ve just got to stick to what we know and it doesn’t really matter who we’re coming up against, we all do our background work and watch tapes," he said from Gosch's Paddock on Friday morning.

"That’s all we can really do. Most people we take as they come, no matter if they are a tall or a short or a superstar or a first-gamer. We’ve got to concentrate on our role and go about it the best we can."

The 31-year-old said he was looking forward to holding down the Collingwood defence after foot and groin injuries kept him to just two matches in 2008.

His experience became all the more important following the retirement of Shane Wakelin, who played 20 games in his final year.

"It’s gone very well so far," Prestigiacomo said. "A bit better than this time last year. I’m happy to be able to play all the NAB Cup games and get a full pre-season in and attack round one up and running.

"I’m looking to try and get out and play some consistent footy and try to lead by example. We’ve got a few younger defenders down there and I suppose myself, Harry (O’Brien) and Heath Shaw have played a couple of years and it’s on our backs to try and take a leadership role.

"We’re looking at even the young guys who come in to step straight in and know what to expect. We’ve got a pretty young and exciting group down there."

Prestigiacomo added that the dismal 76-point defeat to Geelong in the NAB Cup grand final was not an accurate reading of Collingwood’s form going into the season opener.

"We tried to focus on the NAB Cup as a whole," he said. "We had a look at a few things we could improve on and didn’t dwell on it too much.

"Our aim is to have a win in round one this week. We looked at the positives and a few negatives. We looked at the four NAB Cup games and took what we wanted out of them."