CARLTON recruits Will Hayward and Ollie Florent are embracing the opportunity of facing off against Sydney to start their career at the Blues.
The ex-Swans sweated it out for more than two hours during a gruelling open training session at Ikon Park on Friday.
It is less than three months until Carlton opens the 2026 season with a grudge match against Sydney at the SCG.
As the Swans aggressively pursued Charlie Curnow, Hayward and Florent were ruthlessly put up for trade to secure the dual Coleman medallist from Carlton.
Rather than be bitter by how their time ended, the great mates celebrated in Argentina when the moves became official.
And the drama will see the Swans and Blues open the season at the SCG on March 5.
"It was always going to happen once the trade went through," Hayward said with a smile.
"It's exciting and a good challenge.
"Ollie and I are actually really keen to get over there and get a win. That'd be really nice."
Carlton had previously expressed interest in Hayward, but the agile forward chose to re-sign with the Swans for five years.
Being pushed out was arguably harder for Florent to deal with having also committed to Sydney until the end of 2029.
"My mindset was, I want to stay, so I didn't even ask — I let them do all the negotiating, so I could just focus on my football," Florent said after re-signing in 2024.
Even though he is originally from Melbourne, the 27-year-old thought he was going to stay a one-club player.
"I had signed a five-year deal, so I was expecting to be playing up in Sydney for the rest of my career," Florent said on Friday.
"It's really nice to be home being around my family and friends, I've never really got to do that a lot.
"It couldn't have turned out better having my best mate here.
"Now that the decision has been made, we're leaning in."
Florent and Hayward are expected to take on similar roles at Carlton to what they had at the Swans.
A creative user off half-back, Florent will fit in perfectly after Carlton struggled to move the ball effectively at times last season.
Hayward, who kicked 229 goals in 184 games with Sydney, will go into a new-look forward line at the Blues without Curnow.
Former Gold Coast forward Ben Ainsworth is out of main training until the new year after having his foot stepped on.