Saturday's game represents a coming home of sorts for Plowman and three other former Giants – Jed Lamb, Liam Sumner and Andrew Phillips – who made the move south with him.

The quartet were part of a mega trade for which the Giants were given the future first-round draft pick the Blues received from Geelong – likely to be in the mid to late teens.

Giving up four players for a draft pick seems a high price for the Giants but they are banking points so they can match bids for their highly talented academy graduates at this year's draft. Their pot of gold is to come.

The Giants also needed salary cap space to retain their best talent and Plowman and co were not in their long-term plans.

The Blues were keen on Plowman, a No.3 pick in the 2012 draft, while Lamb, Sumner and Phillips still presented a trade up on what they had despite being on the fringe at Homebush.

For Plowman, the move has allowed him to start establishing himself as a bona fide AFL player. His time at the Giants was by no means a waste though it became clear last year opportunities would be limited. Ahead of him in the key position stakes were Phil Davis, Joel Patfull, Aidan Corr and Caleb Marchbank.

Injuries did not help either, with a dislocated elbow in January wiping out the rest of his pre-season and leaving him well off the pace before a ball had been bounced. It took until round 22 to break into the senior side.

"It was tough coming back through injury, the boys were playing good footy. I had to be patient and do the little things well," Plowman said.

When the Blues came calling it was a pretty easy decision for Plowman and his manager Paul Connors to make.

"We thought it would be the best thing – the opportunity to play games at another club, I've played some consistent senior footy and really enjoying it," Plowman said.

Plowman, with his courage and football smarts, is now part of a Blues' defence vastly different in personnel and performance to last year.

"He makes really good decisions, he can spoil well, he brings some stability," Blues coach Brendon Bolton said this week.

"He hardly had a pre-season at all. He's growing each game, with another full pre-season under his belt we thing there's upside with Lachie."

The defender sung the Giants song just four times in his 20 games there but has played in each of the Blues' six wins this year – far more than many had anticipated for last year's wooden spooner.

"We spoke about it at the start of the season, we just wanted to be a team that came out every week and showed effort on the ground and pressure," Plowman said.

"We wanted to be based on that and as you can see this year it's an area we've been working on. It's paid a reward for us."

Plowman is still close to several of his teammates. He visited last week during the Blues' bye to see former housemates Toby Greene and Corr and his fellow draftees from 2012, Lachie Whitfield, James Stewart and Zac Williams.

"I still keep an eye on the boys, they've been going pretty well," Plowman said. "I'm happy for their success."