On Friday he will return in a Melbourne guernsey having become one of few Tasmanian players in the past decade to find a path into the AFL outside of the national draft.

"I'm pretty excited about being able to come back and play in front of friends and family at the same time," said Lockhart, who turned 24 on Tuesday.

"It's my home ground as well where I used to play - I know it's only [pre-season] but I'm keen to get out there again and we've got a few things to work on as well so it should be fun."

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Best on ground in the 2017 state game against the NEAFL, Lockhart followed former Northern Bombers coach Tom Couch to the Casey Demons in 2018 and finished second in the VFL outfit's best and fairest.

After missing out on selection in the draft he was added to Melbourne's AFL list just hours before the pre-season supplementary selection period ended and debuted in a loss to Geelong two weeks later.

He finished an impressive debut season with nine goals from 12 games and enjoyed one of his best games - 20 touches, eight marks and a goal - against Friday's pre-season opponent Hawthorn.

While Launceston's AFL crowds are largely populated by Hawks supporters, Lockhart can expect to have plenty of fans in his corner as he returns to a city that he still calls home over summer.

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"I did a few trips over Christmas time," the former Lilydale District High and Launceston College student said.

"We had a good three-week block off so I came down to Launceston and caught up with all my family and friends and did a bit of camping with a few of the North Launceston boys who I'm still in touch with daily by text and phone call.

"We have group snapchats, group texts - everything like that so we're always bouncing things off each other constantly which is awesome.

"I've still got that really good core group of friends from that team, same as Lilydale Football Club as well, they're kind of my two main groups of friends.

"It's awesome to have their support and I still have great friendships with them which is awesome."

Lockhart will enter Friday's 7.40pm clash boasting more UTAS Stadium experience than any other player - even Hawks veteran Shaun Burgoyne - having debuted for North Launceston as a 16-year-old in 2012.

However, there'll be at least one change to adjust to when the Demons team bus pulls up on Invermay Road.

"I'm going to be in the away changerooms which'll be different, so that'll be a first but it's awesome," Lockhart said.

"They've re-done the ground and changed the shape of it a little bit so it will feel a little bit different, but with everything still set up the same I'm excited to get down there and play and have a really good hit-out against Hawthorn."