Josh Blackie played 56 games for the Highlanders but will play against his former side as a flanker for the Blues in Auckland tomorrow night.
He speaks to sports editor Hayden Meikle.
Josh Blackie says his heart still belongs to the Highlanders but his body is committed to the Blues.
It is nearly two years since the openside flanker walked off Carisbrook for the last time.
On that cool May night, the Highlanders were beaten by the Brumbies and then watched Blackie, Anton Oliver, Carl Hayman, Clarke Dermody and Filipo Levi wave goodbye.
It was an unprecedented player exodus and one from which it was feared the Highlanders would not recover.
Happily, an astute coach and a smart drafting policy have gone some way towards the rebuilding process.
Blackie (29) moved to Japan, where he played for the Kobe Steel club for two seasons before the New Zealand Rugby Union came in with an offer.
The Blues needed a No 7 after Daniel Braid's surprise decision to move to Queensland - was Blackie interested?"It wasn't a hard decision to make.
I felt I had something to give," Blackie told the Otago Daily Times from Auckland yesterday.
In an ideal world, he would be playing for the Highlanders in the Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy game at Eden Park tomorrow night.
But Blackie could see his old team was well served at openside with Alando Soakai and Tim Boys.
There was a vacancy in Auckland, his home city, and he was happy to go back.
"The way it transpired was the NZRU offered me a contract, because Daniel was leaving. I weighed things up. The Highlanders are where my heart is and I would play for them ahead of anyone.
"But I've also done my time there and I wasn't going to come in and deny someone a position in the team."
It will not be the first time Blackie has watched the Highlanders from the opposition ranks.
In 2002, when Sam Harding was the preferred openside in Dunedin, Blackie was called into the Blues as an injury replacement and made one appearance, off the bench, against the Brumbies in the final round.
The previous week, when the Highlanders won their first - and, to date, only - game at Eden Park, Blackie had been bracketed with Matua Parkinson in the Blues team but ended up watching from the grandstand.
He is smart enough to understand everyone wants to get his feelings about playing the Highlanders, whom he captained in his last season, but he claims he hasn't given it much thought.
"It's one of those things where, if you think too deeply about it, you'll end up going round in circles and you'll lose your concentration.
"When I get out there, of course it's going to seem weird. But I'm here to do a job for the Blues and I've got to get on with it.
"I'm sure some of the Highlanders will be looking at putting a bit of extra fizz in for me, just like I'll be looking to add a bit of extra fizz to my game."
The high roster turnover from two years ago has left only about five players in the Highlanders whom Blackie knows well.
One is Alando Soakai, Blackie's successor on the openside flank, who is starting to deliver on his potential and is forming an effective combination with Adam Thomson.
"I've seen a bit of him playing this year and nothing's changed with Soaks. I knew how good he was. He probably wasn't getting to play every week but he always had the goods.
"He's getting regular game time and people are starting to take note."
Blackie is pleased to be back in New Zealand rugby but said he did not regret taking off in his prime to play in Japan.
"On the whole, I'm glad I went there because it gave me plenty of perspective on why I play rugby and what life is about.
I experienced a different culture and did some travelling, and my body wasn't as smashed up as it would have been here.
"The rugby can get pretty frustrating because they have a different psyche. But that's just part of the deal."
One of the benefits of soldiering away in Japanese rugby was avoiding the one question that has dominated Blackie's career for years.
Now he is back in the Super 14, he is regularly asked if the dream of making the All Blacks, especially with Braid, Chris Masoe and Marty Holah now gone, still burns brightly.
"I haven't really got an answer. As I've always done, I'm trying to do my best every week, and if that is good enough to make the All Blacks, that will be great."
Blackie's wife, Nic, went to the Olympic Games in Beijing last year as a therapist with the track and field team.
She is now selling real estate in Auckland and the Blackies live in an apartment in Mt Albert.
