The chance to play in front of a bumper crowd against the best in the state was described as simply "crazy" by Ryan Eade on Friday.
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The Dubbo Touch Association club captain is one of more than 120 local stars competing in the Junior State Cup Northern Conference carnival.
More than 10,000 people have descended on Dubbo for the event, which runs for three days from Friday.
Eade and his Dubbo Devils under 16s boys teammates were some of the first players to take to the fields when they played Gunnedah at 8am on day one.
Despite the early start, there was still a crackling atmosphere around the Lady Cutler ovals and it was made even better when the Devils ran out 6-0 winners.
"It's crazy," Eade said.
"There's so many people. You do something good and then the whole crowd just goes nuts. It's cool."
Eade's team was just one from the host association which started well on Friday.
The under 14 boys caught the eye, downing Macksville 10-2 in fine style before beating Doyalson while the under 14 girls also won twice early on Friday.
Both sides also impressed in the afternoon and finished the day as ones to watch with four wins each from as many games.
The under 12 boys were another strong starter as they downed Taree 5-1 first-up on Friday and they finished the day with two wins from three games.
"The vibe's awesome," Dubbo Touch president Nic Grose said.
"There's so many people around. Everyone's super happy ... there's a real carnival feel to it. Whether you're here at 6am or 5.30pm the vibes are still high.
"Everyone's stoked with the fields. Council has done an awesome job."
Eade and his under 16s teammates recorded a win, a draw and a loss from their three games.
On Saturday, the team will take on Ballina and Nelson Bay before the finals are played out on Sunday.
"It's hard," Eade said of playing at a high-level competition.
"There's such a high calibre of skill and some of the boys have played for New South Wales or above."
Given the quality of players on show at Dubbo across the three days, finals in itself would be an achievement but the hope of overall glory is driving the Devils.
The grand final winners in each of the respective age groups will travel to Sydney next weekend to meet the Southern Conference winners for the title of state champion.
"We want to win," Eade said.
"We've got a pretty good team and we're going pretty good so far.
"We've been training for about six months, three days a week. It's been non-stop and we've been putyting in a lot of work."