No one would have ever accused Brett Morris of dogging it in Wollongong. Not when your family is club royalty, born and purely bred near that lighthouse on the beautiful south coast, and certainly not when you've proven your credentials as the world's best wingman.
But what the heck. Now that he's wearing blue and white...
"I've got a lot of close mates at the Dragons and obviously they were a bit upset when I left," Morris told NRL.com. "But the first thing they said was, 'We can't wait to smash you'."
Which bugger was it? We all know Jack de Belin's tackles pack a bit of punch. Ditto that of Tyson Frizell. Or what about the unconventional methods of Jason Nightingale - will he find a way to make his ex-teammate think twice about finally going mano e mano?
"There were a few of them, I won't name many names, but it'll definitely be something I'm marking on the calendar and looking forward to," he said.
Everyone loves a bit of trash talk, and it's the time of the year where players aren't afraid to see how many bites they can get from their old teammates. So Morris isn't kidding when he says he'll happily return serve when the barbs are thrown his way in the lead-up to the big date.
"All that trash talk doesn't really faze me. If anything, it probably makes me play a little bit better. I'm not too fussed by it, but we'll see if I can rattle a few of the other boys' cages," he said.
The most high-profile signing of the summer has no hesitation in identifying the first game to circle on the NRL calendar as his first clash against his former club.
And while the 28-year-old initially felt anxious about pulling on something other than the Red V at the NRL Auckland Nines launch in Sydney last week, there was no question on where his allegiances now lie.
"It's a little bit different," he said. "Obviously I've been so used to wearing red and white for a very long time, but I left the Dragons and I'm a Dog now. I'm a proud Dog. And I'm looking forward to getting out there round one and running out to a stadium packed full of Doggies fans."
But there are at least some old mates he won't be stirring up.
"Look, if I had to pick one, Benny Creagh is me best mate at the club there, so I'd probably steer clear of him," Morris said.
"I've seen what he can do when you run straight at him and he's probably one guy that I wouldn't be steaming back at. But I'm going to enjoy seeing the rest of their faces when I'm bringing the ball back that's for sure."
