MAREEBA premier division co-coach Alex Srhoj says the club is buzzing at the return of Mazda Cup competition to the FNQ region soccer calendar.

The two-day event, which was rained out in 2008 and pushed out by the Mareeba club’s Queensland State League commitments last season, has drawn 17 teams to contest three divisions of competition at Borzi Park beginning tomorrow.

All six premier FNQ Football clubs, and the FNQ under-19 squads, will be represented in men’s, women’s and youth division competitions and Srhoj, the event organiser, was yesterday delighted at the response from clubs.

"We’ve got 17 teams competing which, from memory, is one of the biggest we’ve had," he said.

The Bulls are reigning champions, having taken out the men’s title in 2006 and 2007 and Srhoj, who will share coaching duties with his uncle Makse this season, believed the hosts could again triumph in the eight-team division.

"A couple of weeks ago things were going slowly for us, but the players have responded well at training," he said.

"We’ve re-signed about 99 per cent of last year’s squad and, although we’ve lost a couple of players to the FNQ Bulls, we’ve had a few more young fellas come into the squad."

The Bulls will rely on senior players Gavin Jenkin, Angelo Tatti, Josh Ruiz and fringe FNQ Bulls players Robert Pendenza and Shaun Owens to provide leadership this season.

A highlight of the carnival will be the trial match between the FNQ Bulls and Brisbane Strikers whose line-up will include Mareeba product Jason Shade, 2009 Bulls squad member Rylan Sadler and former Cairns star Sean Burke.

Play starts tomorrow with a 10.30am women’s match between Mareeba and Edge Hill, followed by the youth game between Marlin Coast and Innisfail.

The first men’s clash is at 11.30am between Mareeba and a team featuring players from several clubs.

Play continues on Sunday from 9.10am with the youth and men’s division finals to be played at 4pm and 5pm respectively and the women’s competition to be decided on a round robin format.

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