Josh Atkins’ boys won seven of their eight state qualifying matches earlier in the year to win the first of two tickets into the 24-team competition.

Atkins said his Lachy Brewer-captained team would aim to win two of its three pool matches to go into the top half of the draw.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good mix of players with height and ability and that sort of thing,” Atkins said.

“As for how we’ll go and that sort of thing I’m not really sure – it depends what the other states have got and it’s a competition that none of these boys have ever seen before except for Lachy.”

Brewer said he had told his teammates to expect tough competition from the other states. 

“I reckon the boys are going to be a lot stronger and fast and quite big, so it’ll be good to play against them,” the 13-year-old said.

The Tigers’ first match is against Brisbane Capitals at 3pm Monday, with their remaining two pool matches against Werribee Devils and Sydney Comets to be played on Tuesday.

The tournament is being held in Kilsyth.