THE Guyra Superspuds are itching to get on Rugby League Park this morning for the Armidale Nines tournament after three years away from the game.

The Superspuds had played in ten grand finals in thirteen years, including seven straight appearances and three straight premierships, until in 2012 they went down in the final to Glen Innes 60-12 and haven’t managed to re-surface until now.

President Peter Presnell is keen to get the club back into that championships shape but knows it will be a tough road.

“We have 35 on our books at the moment,” Presnell said.

The Spuds will field a first, reserves and league tag side but will not field a juniors this season.

Unfortunately they won’t be making the short trip to Armidale with their best 18, after a core group already signed up to play in the Longreach Sevens on the same weekend.

“It is a bit disappointing but we just want to get the ball rolling,” Presnell said.

Presnell is planning on using the tournament to stretch the legs of some of the locals that rallied and put their hands up to play, including himself.

“We have got a few blokes who haven’t played for a few years in there,” Presnell said.

“It will be good to give them a run and rotate them all around.”

The Spuds are in the same pool as the only Group 4 side involved, the Wests Lions.

Those two will compete against Group 19 premiers the Moree Boomerangs and Port City out of Group 3.

“I used to play over there so know the Port side pretty well,” Presnell said.

“They will be pretty handy.”

In the other pool are hosts the Armidale Rams, Ashford, Cobar and the Redfern All Blacks, captain- coached by former New Englander Dean Widders.

Games will be two nine-minute halves with the first game at 10am and the final at 5.30pm.

There will also be three women’s games spread throughout the day.

The Spuds will also have full trial matches against Armidale and Glen Innes at the end of the month before the Group 19 season kicks off on April 11.