Some of the country’s top young league talent is set to take to Forsyth Barr Stadium.
The stadium will host its first game in the newly established national 20s competition for players 20 and under.
Wai-Coa-Bay, a combination of Waikato, East Coast and Bay of Plenty, will travel south to face the South Island today at noon.
It will be the only game in Dunedin as the South Island team has played its other two home games in Christchurch.
The competition is aimed at bridging the gap between 18s representative games and the senior level.
South Island coach Archie Jacobs said it had been great for getting players in that age range exposure and opportunity.
That had been hard to come by in the past in the South and it provided a stepping stone to the senior teams.
Three Otago players will be in action tomorrow.
Eli Ellison will start in the halves, while Ben Worthington will play loose forward after impressing in the early games and playing his way into the line-up.
Max Brown — son of former All Black Olo — will come off the interchange bench.
Christian Pese was unavailable after a head knock last weekend.
Otago Whalers coach David Reedy is also the team’s assistant coach.
The majority of the squad is Canterbury-based and it comes together for a light run the day before its games.
Playing in the stadium will add to this week’s experience and Jacobs hoped the side could put on a good show.
"It’s a wonderful stadium," Jacobs said.
"You don’t have to worry about the conditions, the pitch is always in immaculate condition, real carpet-type stuff.
"So the atmosphere’s going to be great.
"I’m hoping there will be a few interested people down there and a few curious ones to see what this game of rugby league’s all about.
"Hopefully, we can get a crowd along and entertain them.
"We do look at the brand of football that we play.
"We like to shift the ball around a bit and play with some excitement and speed."
The side won its first game over Northland, before a close loss to Central Districts and a heavier loss to Auckland Blue last week.
Jacobs said the side had competed well in the first half, although maintaining that had been hard.
"There’s certainly things we need to try to fix in terms of our second half performance, which we’ve talked about at length.
"Just a bit of a mindset, I think, and the need for just a bit more mental toughness."
There will also be junior games for year 7 and 8 school players at Kettle Park, starting from 9am.
Ten teams from seven schools will play in games that that will be run over day.
