Close mates Dan Casey and Neville Swayn suit up as opposing coaches on Saturday

The two are close friends from their time working together at Leura Oval while Casey was senior coach and Swayn his assistant.

Neither is short on experience but in footy, there's a first time for everything. The duo will coach against one another for the first time in a game which could prove vital in the context of each club's season.

Swayn, who is in his fourth season as Camperdown coach, said he was looking forward to the occasion.

"It'll be the first time competitively. Over the summer we had a round robin sort of competition with us, Cobden and Colac Imps and it was really (weird) then," he said.

"I was obviously Dan's assistant when he was here in the mid-2010s so I think I know a bit about how he'll go about it on Saturday and how they'll play.

"We've stayed really close since he left and always kept in touch. We're always talking about footy even now. It is what it is, it'll be a bit bizarre."

Casey said Swayn was a mentor while he was completing his level two and level three coaching accreditation.

"It'll be good fun," he said.

"We're always sharing info (on opposition) but we obviously haven't been in the lead-up to this one (laughs).

"He's a really good fella, Nev."

Casey said he was excited to be part of a hot-blooded rivalry after years outside the Hampden league.

"It's something you miss out on when you're not here. There's obviously a few good ones in Colac leagues and whatnot but nothing like there is in the Hampden league," he said.

Swayn said the rivalry between the two clubs was as such that ladder positions and form didn't matter.

"These games are always close," he said.

"It's been proven over time when one side is down and the other is up, it doesn't tend to matter too much.

"We know they'll come to play and they've been OK in their first two games against South and Portland. It's been well-documented that we're young and they're probably similar to us in that too.

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"They're not overly tall and either are we. We think we know how they'll move the ball and they'll be contested and hard at it. All of our boys know their boys too so it'll be a funny one."

Camperdown has regained vice-captains Luke O'Neil and Charlie Lucas for the clash while veteran Brendan Richardson has also returned in a boost to its back six.

Cobden, meanwhile, has drafted in Brad Gillingham, Josh Hickey and Liam Loubey to replace Nick Kemp, Sam Darcy and Joe Hutt.

The first bounce will take place at 5.30pm as part of a Super Saturday.

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