There's no prizes for guessing what Joel Mackie scanned for first when the Hume league draw was released late last year... when would he face his former side Osborne.
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As fate would have it, Mackie will come against the Tigers only two rounds after leading the league heavyweight to the flag last season.
Mackie has missed the Bulldogs' opening two rounds with a calf complaint but confirmed he will be running around against some of his premiership teammates this weekend.
"Obviously I've got a great connection with Osborne after having spent the past four seasons out there and I really enjoyed my time at the club," Mackie said.
"But now I have got the chance to play against them and hopefully plot their downfall.
"I guess it's going to be interesting playing against the old side but Osborne is a family club and I don't expect to cop a hostile reception and get abused from the sidelines.
"Personally I'm looking forward to catching up with the players and supporters that I haven't seen for a while after the match.
"But first both teams have got a job to do and try to get the win and it should be an interesting clash with both sides starting the season well.
"Osborne at Osborne, there is no bigger challenge in the competition and that's what the playing group is looking forward to.
"It will be a different experience for myself being on the other side now but these are the sort of matches that you want to be involved in as a player."
Most of the Osborne players wore Bulldog jumpers during their mad Monday celebrations as a parting prank on their departing premiership coach.
But Mackie revealed there hadn't been any banter in the lead-up to their clash this weekend.
"I haven't received any texts or anything like that so far this week and I wasn't really expecting any to be honest," he said.
"I did rate the players' mad Monday prank when they rocked up in their Bulldog jumpers and had a bit of a chuckle about it.
"But getting involved in a bit of banter with the Osborne players is not on my radar, I'm more concerned about getting the group primed for the biggest challenge in the Hume league.
"Even out on the ground on Saturday, I can't even think of a player at Osborne who might be keen to try and sledge me.
"My experience at Osborne is that they are not big on sledging and just let their footy do the talking.
"With both sides starting well this season, I think both sides will be just keen to produce their best footy and see how they measure up against the opposition."
It has been well documented that Osborne lost more than a third of its premiership side over the off-season which had most league followers predicting the league powerhouse could be on the slide.
But Mackie didn't subscribe to the popular theory after seeing first hand the superior depth at Osborne which is the envy of the rest of the competition.
"One of the things that stood out to me during my time at Osborne was the club's superior depth," he said.
"We played quite a few players through the seniors who have now got senior experience which is good from their point of view.
"They still landed some handy recruits like Myles Aalbers as coach and Max Hillier and they have got some handy kids.
"So to be honest I think it was more wishful thinking that Osborne could be on the slide.
"The depth they have is unrivalled which is unbelievable considering there isn't even a township out there.
"It's a credit to them."
