Josh Dunkley admits he’s put a big circle around Brisbane’s Round 3 fixture against the Western Bulldogs.

The 26-year-old has settled into life as a Lion and spoke to Lions Media about how refreshing the move north has been.

“I’ve loved Queensland ever since I started coming up with my family,” he said.

“My partners family are here, my sister moved up a few years ago and to be able to come up here permanently has been great.”

In one of the most talked about trades of the 2022 off-season, Dunkley said his decision to leave the Western Bulldogs was a bittersweet one.

“Looking back now, it was certainly a tough one.

“The way it transpired in the end was obviously positive but throughout that process it was quite challenging, and I had to lean on my family and friends a bit.

“Dom (Ambrogio) and the team gave me full confidence that the deal would get so all I could do was sit back and enjoy every moment.”

Now having trained with his new side for nearly three months, Dunkley said he’s enjoying playing alongside a star-studded midfield.

“It’s tough on the track when its 35 degrees and humid from rain the night before, but I think early days it was hard to adjust, the balls slippery but now I feel like I’m used to it,” he said.

“The boys are training really well, everyone’s looking really fit and we’ve been running a lot, which is a different for me. It’s been great to change the stimulus of training and it’s been really refreshing for the mind and the body.

“To come from a place that has really good midfielders, to come into the Club which has even better midfielders is amazing.

“You’ve got a Brownlow winner in Lachie, Hugh McCluggage and you look at how good he’s been in the last few years, plus blokes like Dev Robertson and Matho, we take each other honest at training and drive high standards.

“It’s a huge dynamic with a lot of faces going through the middle which is exciting.”

With pre-season well underway, Dunkley admitted it was hard not to look forward to Round 3, where the Lions will take on the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium.

“I was always looking to see when we were playing the Dogs,” the 26-year-old said.

“I think it’s going to be good to get it out of the way, but we only play them once so the build-up will be pretty big I reckon.

“Hopefully the crowd’s not too harsh on me but there’ll probably be a bit of niggle, Libba might throw in a few elbows but it’s all good fun, they’ve been good to me throughout the journey.

“But I have no doubt once that siren goes and we cross that white line, it’ll be on.”