There should be one certainty at the Gabba on Sunday – Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley sends his best run-with player to shadow Dayne Zorko.

Fresh off his first All Australian season, Zorko has been a slow starter in 2018 as he battles to adapt to the weekly grind of shaking opposition taggers.

Averaging just 15 disposals and kicking five goals for the year, calling it a struggle would be kind.

But Brownlow medalist Simon Black has a five-point blueprint that might help Zorko bust the rust from his early slumber.

Black dealt with close-checking for much of his decorated 322-game career, taking on the likes of noted taggers Cameron Ling, Brett Kirk and Kane Cornes on a regular basis.

Although Black told AFL.com.au Zorko had "more strengths than I had with his speed – he's a lot quicker than I was", he said there was some basics to getting the upper hand on a shutdown rival.

Have a ruthless mindset

"Being tagged can challenge your competitive will. It can take some time to adjust to being tagged. You've got to be strong mentally, make it personal and think "this guy's trying to stop me from what I want to do". It's got to drive you and make you determined to fight that. It used to stir me, drive me when I had a couple of quiet ones. You've got to have a ruthless mindset of getting every ounce of energy out of yourself and be willing to pay the price to have an impact on the game, and it's all around work-rate."

Get on the move at stoppages

"For me, in the confined areas, it was about being constantly on the move. It makes you hard to play on. An extension of that is not running in straight lines. If the ball's at a stoppage with a lot of bodies around, change angles. When you do that and are constantly on the move, you'll get a metre or two off your opponent – a metre in AFL footy as an inside mid is quite some room." 

Perfect the stoppage craft

"Technique and timing. Technique is when you look to move and get separation off your opponent by aggressively giving them a shove in the chest. And then the timing of when the umpire is throwing the ball in – if you do it too early, your opponent will be all over you. It's crucial to get the timing right." 

Be selfless

"Ask yourself, how can I still have an impact? Following another player and making it a two-versus-one – it can create a free player somewhere; particularly at stoppages, it can be real beneficial to your team. Be selfless, can I defensively lay tackles to have an impact? It's not thinking you've got to get it 30 times." 

Have good body language

"Body language is a big one, your head can't drop. It's like a boxer, they look for a weakness. If you have poor body language, they see it and know they've got you."