Dixon, the abrasive Highlanders loose forward, will be suiting up for the southerners when they take on the Brumbies at Rugby Park Stadium in Invercargill tonight.
Dixon started his first-class career in the South with Southland and still plays for the Invercargill-based team.
He is looking forward to getting out on the home ground tonight and getting the Highlanders back on track.
"It has been a while since I have played down in Invers [Invercargill]. I know a lot of the teams do not like playing down there but for me it is a home paddock and I get to play down there heaps of times a year,'' Dixon said.
"I initially went down to Southland [from Canterbury] because it was about getting an opportunity. I got that with them and it went from there. It is seven years ago now, so it has been a while. I'm calling myself a Southlander now, rolling my rs a little bit, and I have been caught out with that.
"It took me a good four to five years to start getting some consistent game time. But it has been awesome in the past couple of years to get game time for both of them and notching up 50 games for both.''
Dixon was slow out of the gate in his Highlanders career and injury got in the road.
But since 2014 he has really hit the floor running and was the player of the match in the final last year.
His form has been so good that he has been mentioned as an All Black candidate.
Dixon (26) though, is not buying into the talk of the black jersey.
"For me it is just week to week. It is just about improving my game and for the Highlanders first and see how it goes after that. If I'm lucky enough to get picked then that will be great, but for me it is just concentrating on the week. So that is the game against the Brumbies in Invercargill.
"I've never heard from them [All Black selectors] at all. At this time of year it is more about me and the Highlanders and trying to do my role in the team. If that sparks a little bit outside that then that is good.''
Dixon said the Highlanders coaches wanted him to continue to be physical in his game, be strong in defence and help set up players outside him.
Dixon was initially a No 8 but is happy now as a blindside flanker.
As for the Brumbies, Dixon said they would be hurting after a couple of disappointing performances.
It is bound to be a set piece-orientated game, so the Highlanders will have to be strong at lineout and scrum time.
Last year, when the Brumbies beat the Highlanders in Canberra, the home team had David Pocock score three tries on the back of rolling mauls off lineouts.
So the Highlanders will need to be competitive up front and the easiest way to do that is simply maintain discipline and not make mistakes.
Both teams are at the crossroads after a couple of disappointing weeks.
The Brumbies were poor against the Crusaders last week and no longer lead the Australian conference.
The Highlanders need to get back to playing with more accuracy and show more composure in their game.
Handling errors plagued them last week and playing outside in Invercargill is not going to help.
The side simply has to knuckle down and tidy its game up.
Coach Jamie Joseph has talked about going back to basics this week.
Basics mean catching, passing and tackling. Do those well and the team will be on the front foot.
The weather forecast for tonight is cloudy, with the chance of a few spots of rain.
