EIGHT North Coast teams are gearing up for this year’s Australia Cup, set to commence on Saturday February 17.

Round two of the competition features six North Coast teams, with Urunga and Coffs Coast Tigers securing direct entry into the third round with a bye.

2023 North Coast Premiers the Northern Storm will kick off their campaign with a home fixture against Armidale City Westside on Sunday February 18 at Korora.

Whilst their opposition are an unknown quantity, Northern Storm coach Craig Caruana is expecting a competitive match.

“We don’t know much about them, but I’m sure they’re not going to travel all the way down here just to check out the beach,” he said.

“We’ve had a good pre-season so far with good numbers and the lads are just starting to get into it.

“We had our first pre-season hit out against Westlawn last Sunday and the lads are really up for the Australia Cup clash.”

Meanwhile, Woolgoolga Wolves, last year’s North Coast grand final winners, face a formidable away game against Alstonville, the team that edged them out in round five of the previous competition.

Boambee will host Souths United, Sawtell travels to Tamworth to take on the Moore Creek Mountain Goats, and Coffs City United welcomes South Armidale.

Westlawn Tigers will venture to Narrabri to square off against Namoi FC.

North Coast Football General Manager Duncan Marchant can’t wait for the season to begin.

“The Australia Cup is a tremendous way to kick off the season and we’ve had good success in previous years,” he said.

“We’ve already had over a thousand players registered to play football this season with strong numbers in female football.

“The Women’s World Cup and the popularity of the Matildas is now feeding through to grassroots football which means we can hold more competitions across more age groups.

“I encourage players to get in touch with their local club as teams are filling up fast,” Marchant said.

By David WIGLEY