Tamworth will lead the charge with two sides, the top side of which will play in Division 1.

They’ve been seeded second in Pool A after reaching the semi-finals last year and, despite losing the likes of Isaac Farmilo, Antony Doolan, Jock Evans and Andrew Finch, coach Andrew Farmilo is confident they can be up there again.

“We’ve still got a good midfield, a good defence and good attack,” he said. 

“And pretty much everyone is in form and pretty fit.”

All of them have been playing first grade for their respective club sides, even the babies of the side – Calvin Farmilo and Toby Whitten.

They’re both stepping up from the U15s but have been “playing pretty well”.

The ace in Tamworth’s sleeve, Farmilo believes, is their speed.

“It is a pretty quick team,” he said.

They plan to utilise that by playing a fast, up-tempo game.

“We’ve got plenty of speed up front,” he said.

“We want to try to utilise that, try to hit some space and make it a foot race.”

Last Sunday’s local action would have offered some encouragement as far as goal-scoring, with Will Turner, Harry Lewin and Harper Galvin all in red-hot form.

Turner bagged six goals, Harry Lewin five and Harper Galvin four.

Gus Wolfgang will make up the strike quartet.

They’ll play in front of a midfield led by Ehren Hazell, Jack Cruickshank and Luke Wilson.

A lot, in Farmilo’s mind, will depend on how well they shift the ball.

If they try to go one-out, “which is always the trouble with 18-year-old boys” they will be easy pickings for the defence.

They’ve got Sydney East 1 first-up at 9.10am this morning, followed by Newcastle this afternoon and Illawarra South Coast and Metro South West tomorrow.

New England and the Tamworth 2s will both line up in Division 2, but in opposite pools.

The Lions earned their spot by taking out Division 3 last year and also play their first game at 9.10am – against Bathurst.

The Tamworth 2s have a later start, with their first game against Illawarra South Coast 2 at 11.30am.