Although not all of them will take the field at Glen Willow on Sunday evening, most will travel to Orange early in the week before arriving in Mudgee on Thursday.

Fans in the central west may be disappointed with the absence of players like Josh Jackson from Gulgong, as well as Isaah Yeo or James Maloney, however big names are still making the trip.

Competition leaders Melbourne are sending two players for the Country side, with centre Cheyse Blair joined by teammate Dale Finucane.

Country stalwarts like Jack De Belin and Paul Vaughan, who are in the mix for NSW berths, also return.

The non-selection of Raiders is a crucial blow to the event, given they had four players in the Country Origin side last year.

Interestingly, Adam Elliott has been named in the interchange for the team, a move that comes less than a week after the Bulldogs claimed they wouldn't allow their players to appear in Sunday's match.

Elliott is the only Canterbury player selected in the 18-man squad, after Bulldogs coach Des Hasler softened his stance last week and said he was open to letting some players turn out in Mudgee.

Canterbury, Canberra and North Queensland said, prior to the announcement, they would be making players unavailable for Sunday's match - the last of the annual competition which has been running in the Origin format since 1987.

City meanwhile struggled to meet the team-list deadline.

"Due to a large number of eligible players becoming unavailable for various reasons we are unable to name 17 players by the planned 9.30am announcement," they said in a media release.

However at midday their team was announced, with one surprise inclusion that of St George-Illawarra prop Hame Seme, who makes his representative debut after just four games of NRL football.

Former Blues captain Paul Gallen is leading City after his retirement from the Origin squad.

Country: Michael Gordon, Anthony Don, Euan Aitken, Cheyse Blair, Brian Kelly, Cody Walker, Tyrone Roberts, Dale Finucane, Damien Cook, Paul Vaughan, Mitch Aubusson (c), Kyle Turner, Jack De Belin. Int: Connor Watson, Matt Prior, Tariq Sims, Adam Elliott, Daniel Alvaro.

City: Matt Moylan, Clint Gutherson, Nathan Ross, Tyrone Peachey, Josh Addo-Carr, Bryce Cartwright, Chad Townsend, James Tamou, Cameron McInnes, Paul Gallen (c), Curtis Sironen, David Gower, Hame Sele, Joseph Paulo, Nathan Cleary, Pauli Pauli, Jake Marketo.

Tickets available at http://tickets.nrl.com/city-country.