The two teams will meet in the inter-town clash that has become a local Australia Day tradition as much as firing up the snags on the barbie.

Mudgee have never been beaten in the showdown; last year’s was probably the time they most likely would have but they enjoyed a six-wicket win instead.

Jacob Edmonds knows what is at stake – bragging rights.

“There is a good rivalry there [between the teams],” the Mudgee skipper said.

“You can say it is a bit of a grudge match. For me, I grew up there, so I always look forward to it.”

Mudgee named one of their strongest teams they have had this summer.

With the exclusion of Will Lindsay and Trent Bright, the side still packs plenty of punch especially as Mitchell Hearn and Adam Honeysett, a former Gulgong representative, have been in good form recently.

“It is a pretty strong team. The strongest you can get without the likes of Will and Brightie being there,” Edmonds said.

“You always go into a game wanting to win. We want to dominate the game and I think we have the side to do it.”

Gulgong has named a strong side too and on their day, can score plenty of runs and keep the opposition’s scoring to a minimal.

Stuart Bromley takes charge of Gulgong for his first Australia Day Challenge as skipper.

“We are all really pumped for a big game,” Bromley said.

“Mudgee are a quality side but we have batsmen that can score large amounts of runs quickly and tight bowlers who never give away easy runs so it’s now just down to seeing how things unfold on the day.”

Jared Clulow has hit form at the right time for RSL and could be a danger for Gulgong, while Mark Gorrie will make his first appearance for the summer.

Gorrie hasn’t had the best of runs in the Australia Day Challenge but he has proven in other big matches, once he gets going he can be hard to stop scoring.

“[Mark] Hundy and [Jared] Clulow are no mugs with the bat and Mark Gorrie is definitely not to be taken lightly,” Edmonds said.

“Stu Bromley has scored a thousand runs for them over the years.

“Our bowling will be our strongest area but having said that, if everyone can perform we should not have a problem.”

Despite playing at Mudgee’s Victoria Park, Bromley hopes a few Gulgong supporters make the short trip down the Castlereagh Highway.

“Hopefully people will come out and support what should be an entertaining game with both teams having some explosive batsmen,” Bromley said.

The match starts at 10am at Mudgee’s Victoria Park.