The draw was revealed on Monday and, in the new conference format, the Highlanders have a tough opening, playing the Hurricanes and the Chiefs to start with, followed by a trip to South Africa to face the finalists from this year's competition, the Bulls and the Stormers.
Joseph said one of the best things about the new competition format was that the stay in South Africa was shorter.
"And the fact is we have struck these teams at the start of the season which I think is better as the guys are a bit fresher," he said.
The team does not play the Reds and the Sharks under the new competition format and only plays four games overseas.
The Highlanders play the four other New Zealand-based sides home and away.
Joseph said it was hard to tell if not playing certain teams was an advantage or a disadvantage at this stage of the season.
"This time last year the Reds were just a reasonable side. You just don't know what is going to happen over the off-season. The Sharks before going into last season were one of the favoured teams. So you never can tell."
The Highlanders play new expansion team the Melbourne Rebels in Melbourne halfway through the competition.
The new franchise have been described as easybeats by some critics, but Joseph sees them as a tough challenge.
"They have some good athletes in their side but the biggest challenge they face is they have to build a team spirit, get a team culture going."
Of the 16 games the Highlanders are scheduled to play, 10 of them will be on a Friday night.
In the era of professional rugby, players have become used to playing at various times.
Joseph said it was not a big deal what day the team played but Friday night had the advantage of the players getting the weekend off, when friends and family were also not working.
