Amy Hardcastle insists Friday's showdown St Helens is just another game as the Leeds Rhinos star prepares to face her old club for the first time in the Women’s Super League.
The England international made the high-profile switch from Saints to the reigning BWSL champions last year, having been part of their treble-winning team in 2021 and last year's Women's Challenge Cup triumph.
Hardcastle remains on friendly terms with many of her former team-mates, who she still sees on international duty, but that does not mean any of them will be going easy on each other when they face off in a match which is live on Sky Sports.
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"I'm laughing because this is all I've had all week about 'how do you feel about playing Saints?'," Hardcastle told Sky Sports News.
"I've still got a lot of friends at Saints and get to catch up with them at England, but it's just another game of rugby and you'll have a good battle with them.
"You do have respect for each other, but when you're on that field it's different. But it's that healthy relationship where you thrive when we go 100 percent at each other because that's what it's about.
"It doesn't matter if it's your best mate or not, we'll do our very best and I'm looking forward to seeing what Saints are like this year because they've got a few different girls in there. For me, it's another team I'll potentially play against, but I'm looking forward to it."
Having made her name as a blockbusting centre on both the club and international stages, Hardcastle has found herself transitioning into a new position at the age of 34 due to Rhinos head coach Lois Forsell choosing to deploy her off-season recruit in the second row.
It is a switch which has become increasingly common in the modern men's game and while Hardcastle is now getting to grips with her back-row role and enjoying the defensive as well as the attacking demands of playing in the pack, she admits it has not been easy for her.
"I've have been vulnerable coming into a different position," Hardcastle said. "It's super-hard because I've played centre for many years and it's all I've ever known, but I believe Lois' process at Leeds and if she sees me as a second row, I have to respect her as a coach.
"I've had ups and downs and there are times when I've gone home, and I've cried and questioned myself: Am I getting too old? Are things getting a bit too hard? Can I not keep up? But that was probably my emotions taking over and negative thinking.
"But once I've had those chats and conversations, and a few more games under my belt, I'm understanding that role of second row more now and how much value it will add when I go back into the centres if I get picked there for international duty or need to.
"It's going to add strings to my bow and I'm excited once we get to more competitive games to see how I can handle it in the middle - but I've never experienced so much hard work as a forward, so I take my hat off to them."
Leeds have already featured on Sky Sports once this year, facing York Valkyrie in a rematch of last year's BWSL Grand Final, and Friday's live fixture comes ahead of Leeds and St Helens' men clashing at Headingley in a rematch of their 2022 Grand Final.
The Rhinos' women were beaten 34-12 by York in that match back in April, but head into the game against Saints having trounced Huddersfield Giants 52-0 on Sunday to put a seal on their qualification from their group for the quarter-finals of the Women's Challenge Cup.
Hardcastle is adamant her old club will be facing a much different proposition to the team beaten by the Valkyrie on opening night as well.
"We came away hurting from that, but it was the beginning of the season and we've progressed a lot. For us, we know what we need to fix up," Hardcastle said.
"There have been a few hiccups, but we're getting the relationships, we're getting those bonds, we're getting the structure right, so it will be good to see how it goes on Friday against Saints and we'll take it from there."
Watch Leeds Rhinos and St Helens' women and men face off in a double-header live on Sky Sports Arena from 5pm on Friday. Also stream on NOW TV.