Canterbury’s only local junior at the club, Josh Reynolds, says Sunday afternoon’s clash at Belmore Oval will be a special moment for former captain Michael Ennis.

Ennis, who spent five seasons with the Bulldogs, faces his old teammates for the first time since switching to Cronulla over the summer.

Reynolds, who is the godfather of Ennis’ daughter, said he was looking forward to locking horns with one of his closest mates.

“He said to me the other day, `I never thought I’d have to play against you’. (And) I feel the same thing,” Reynolds said on 2UE’s Sports Tonight.

“In the end, it’s just another game. He’ll do his job, I’ll do mine.

“I’m sure we’ll clash at some time. I just can’t wait.

“It’s going to be good for him too. He’s done a lot for the club at the Bulldogs. For him to come back to Belmore, it’s probably a pretty special moment for himself too.”

The club played its first game at Belmore Oval since 1998, when the Bulldogs belted Melbourne 20-4 back in round 16.

The 26-year-old came off the bench to play just 13 minutes, but recalled how moved he was by the sold out crowd cheering his name.

“They started doing that and then the Fox cameras were in front of me. I think Dessie (coach Des Hasler) sent a message down to (assistant) Jimmy Dymock to get rid of them, to tell them to settle down and get out of there,” he recalled.

“I’m not going to lie. I definitely had a weird feeling in my stomach, heaps of butterflies.

“Even though I didn’t show it, it was very emotional.

“It just makes me feel that people know how much I do love the club and how much it does mean to me.”

Reynolds also opened up on his axing from the NSW side earlier this year, and spoke of how determined he was to regain his Origin jersey.

“To tell you the truth, it was one of the hardest things I’ve had to come by,” he said.

“Especially being in the winning side and thinking that I was going to be a part of that system, because I loved it so much last year.

“I just had to move on, because if I dwelt on it too much, it would’ve interfered with how I played my other game.

“It did hurt me pretty deeply, but I’ve just got to keep training hard, putting my down and improving my game to get back to that level of football.”