Carlton defender Sam Docherty says it will be a "very interesting experience" to play against his former team the Brisbane Lions for the first time this Saturday.
Docherty spent two years at the Gabba after the Lions took him at pick No. 12 in the 2011 national draft, but was one of five young Lions who successfully sought trades back to their home states at the end of last season.
When the 20-year-old returns to the Gabba this Saturday, he will become the first of those former Lions (the others are Jared Polec, Billy Longer, Elliot Yeo and Patrick Karnezis) to do so.
Docherty told AFL.com.au he was not sure what sort of welcome he would get from Lions fans and his former teammates.
But he noted Polec had already played the Lions, albeit at his new club Port Adelaide's Adelaide Oval stronghold, and had not received too much attention from his ex-teammates.
"Obviously it will be different going back up playing as an opposition side, but it will be a good challenge and I'm actually looking forward to it," Docherty told AFL.com.au.
"I'm excited to do it, it will be a very interesting experience though.
"When you're on the field you don't really notice what the crowd's doing and if some of the players want to give me a bit of stick they can – it's completely up to them.
"I'm just going to try and play good footy and get back up there and play well."
Docherty says it was a "tough" decision to leave the Lions, but is content he made the right call.
"I've got some good friends up there that I ended up leaving, but in the end it was a decision for my future," he said.
"In a way I was very lucky I did make the decision to come down with what's happened with my family (his father passed away suddenly at the end of last year).
"So I'm very thankful that [the Lions] accommodated the trade. They were very good to me and I couldn't be happier being down here."
After losing their opening four games of the year, the Blues have got their season back on track with wins in four of their past five matches, including a five-point win against Adelaide last Sunday.
But their next five games will probably define their season.
After the Lions, the Blues play Geelong, Hawthorn, Greater Western Sydney at Spotless Stadium, and Collingwood.
"It's going to be a big month for us, but it will definitely show where we're at as a club," Docherty said.
"I think the start of the year was a bit of a letdown for us internally and probably externally as well.
"We're slowly getting back on track, but I think we've got a heap better football to play in the next month or so.
"I think we've got a really talented list. Our best is very, very good, but at the moment our worst is just not up to standard.
"Our challenge is trying to play four quarters of footy rather than the one quarter of footy, and that's the test we've got for the rest of the year."
