The carnival runs from today until Saturday with teams in the under-12s, -14s and -16s representing eight regions from four country areas: Western, Riverina, Southern and Northern; plus four metropolitan Sydney areas.

Dubbo has hosted the tournament for the past five years and games co-ordinator Jim Auld said while there will no doubt be some fierce competition, over the years he’s seen increasing success from the Western teams.

“They will be up against some very flash sides from around the Sydney area, but we’ve had some excellent results in previous years,” he said.

“A couple of years ago we took out the Country Championships and we seem to be getting better every year.

“Our under-16s are a relatively new side with a lot of their players moving onto the under-17s age group, so it will be interesting to see how they go.

“We also have some very talented players representing the Western region in the other two age groups.”

Each side will play seven matches across the five days, with Western allocated a bye on Saturday, the final day of competition.

Local representative from Dubbo include Jess Berryman, Tayla Braithwaite and Annie Huggins in the under-14s; Jane Winter, Tori-Lee Canham, Rinah Gersbach, Danielle Sykes, Courtney Johnson in the under-16s and Indianna Asimus in the under-12s.

Western’s draws for the carnival are:

(Today) v Country Southern; v Metro West; (Wednesday) v Metro North; v Metro East; (Thursday) v Country Riverina; v Metro South; (Friday) v Metro Far South; v Metro Far North.

Today’s game for Western are all on the main oval starting at 9am (under-12s); 10.15am (14s) and 11.30am (16s); and in the afternoon on field 4 at 1pm (12s); 2.15pm (14s) and 3.30pm (16s).

Western teams:

Under-12s:

Kayla England, Paige Hay, Brooke Tuynman, Clare Hunt, Alyssa Ridding, Rebecca Hope, Emily Whittaker, Prue Anderson, Meg Thompson, Annabel Meadley, Indianna Asimus, Emma Harley, Byrdie Comiskey, Erin Dwyer, Nikea Goodwin. Coach: Paul Morris. Managers: Trent and Gwenny Asimus.

Under-14s:

Natasha Wykes, Aimee Nankervis, Ellie Humphreys, Madison Ryan, Jessica Berryman, Lydia Nancarrow, Annie Huggins, Tayla Braithwaite, Meaghan Kempson, Morgan Sherman, Caitlin Morris, Beth Thompson, Hailee Provest, Rebecca Bailey, Sophie Humphris. Coach: Graham Ross. Manager: Gaye Wykes.

Under-16s:

Jessica Daymond, Kira North, Leah Draper, Katie Long, Jane Winter, Kelsey Sherman, Tori-Lee Canham, Clare Montgomery, Chloe Callagan, Eden Stoddard, Rinah Gersbach, Eliza Nankervis, Dana Grenfell, Danielle Sykes, Aimee Morris, Courtney Johnson. Coach: Glen Stedman. Manager: Tracy Stedman.