COLLINGWOOD midfielder Luke Ball will join an exclusive club of players to have captained two AFL clubs when he leads the Magpies in their NAB Cup opener against the Western Bulldogs and GWS at Blacktown on Saturday night.

Ball skippered St Kilda in 2006 as part of the Saints' rotational captaincy policy instigated by then coach Grant Thomas.

In the absence of regular skipper Nick Maxwell and vice-captain Scott Pendlebury, both of whom will be rested, Ball will assume the mantle as he enters his third season at Collingwood.

It's a meteoric rise for the 27-year-old, who left the Saints at the end of 2009 and has since become one of the Pies' most consistent performers in the past two seasons.

He has played 48 games for the Pies (to go with his 142 with the Saints), and has clocked more than 500 disposals in each season in black and white - a feat he didn't manage once at St Kilda.

Last season he also managed a career-best 18 goals, and a massive 166 tackles.

Ball said he was thrilled to be given the honour of captaining the side.

"The coaches grabbed me before I left training today and … let me know I'd be captaining the side," he told 3AW on Wednesday night.

"It is a fantastic honour when you come to a new side. And not any side, but a side with the history and culture of the Collingwood footy club.

"To be recognised in that role, albeit just for a NAB Cup game, it's very special."

Another Pie who will be missing from Saturday night's game is Harry O'Brien, who received stitches to a finger after a minor household mishap. Ball quipped: "The only positive to come out of it I think is that it's not his Twitter finger. He's got nine good fingers left to tweet."

Ball forecast a potential forward or midfield role for versatile veteran Chris Tarrant, who has kicked more goals than any other player on the Collingwood list but has spent the past few seasons in defence.

"I guess with Nathan Brown showing really good signs that he's ready to almost come back and start playing, that might be able to free 'Taz' up a bit to roam up the field a bit and play on the wing or push forward," he said.

"He did it in one or two games last year and was able to hit the scoreboard."

Ball also revealed the Magpies had endured a harder pre-season under new coach Nathan Buckley.

"It's pretty similar (compared to last year)," he said.

"When you finish pretty high up the ladder you're under no illusions that you become the standard for other sides, or a side that other sides try to chase down and knock off, so you are aware that you have to keep stepping up every year.

"We're lucky we've got a guy like (sport science director) Dave Buttifant, who's been in the system a really long time now and he knows the progressions that we need to make every year.

"Certainly, the pre-season has been another step up from last year."

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The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs