A brand new Super Rugby season it might be, but Blues pivot Chris Noakes expects the Highlanders to bring a traditional hard-nosed approach when the sides meet in Dunedin.

Some big-name signings put the spotlight on the Highlanders at the start of last season, whereas they’ve flown under the radar this time around.

But the Auckland-born Noakes, who spent 2012 with the southern franchise, is pretty sure of what to expect on Saturday night.

“They’ve always been extremely hard-nosed and physical, and that won’t change,” he said.

“I imagine they’ll be fairly direct with the territory battle and put us under pressure in our own half and feed off some mistakes.”

Minimising errors will be one of the targets for the Blues, with Noakes saying it was a factor in the losses in their three pre-season fixtures.

The last of those was against defending champions the Chiefs, against whom Noakes felt the Blues lifted their physicality, but got burnt by turnovers.

With coach Sir John Kirwan opting to put high-profile recruit Benji Marshall on the bench, Noakes will get first go in the No.10 jersey.

Marshall was the starting five-eighth during the pre-season but accepts that he isn’t ready in his transition from the NRL to be in the run-on side.

The other option, Baden Kerr, is out with a hand injury.

Noakes knows he has been handed the opportunity to cement his spot.

“I have the first shot at it and I want to make sure I take that chance and make the No.10 jersey mine again.”

Noakes is coming back from neck surgery.

The 28-year-old said he felt 100 per cent and got the final sign-off from his surgeon this week.

“The body feels great,” he said.

“I can take a lot of confidence and comfort from the fact that I’ve not had any problems.”