After finishing third behind Merewether and Avoca in last month’s NSW north qualifying round, Port Macquarie will take on the country’s best 24 Surftag teams, including powerhouses Kirra, Margaret River, North Narrabeen and Snapper Rocks for the more than $40,000 on offer.

Port, with veteran world championship tour star Mick Campbell leading the way, will need to be on their game from the outset. They have drawn two of the event’s favourites, Margaret River A and Snapper Rocks, in their opening heat and will have to finish top two to progress to the quarter finals.

Snapper will be led by world No.2 Joel Parkinson, while the heat’s fourth team, NSW south coast club Woonona, are a squad built on teamwork and tactics.

Campbell will be joined in the team by Mitch Hayes, Wayne Hudson, Mitch van der veer and Wayne Morrison.

Mick Caine and Israel Hyde drop out of the group that competed at the NSW north round.

Club spokesman Terry Randall believes, while the draw is a daunting one, Port has the ability and tactics to progress through to the next round.

“It’s a tough draw from the start and that’s a tall ask, but these team events are not just about individual surfers,” Randall said.

“There’s the tactics involved and we have been training hard to get those right.

“We’ll be looking to allocate our time well over the course of the heat and get our best guys maximum time in the water.

“If we do that right I am confident enough to think we would be up there with a chance.”

The event sees five-member teams given an hour in which each surfer must catch three waves. The second is a “powerwave” worth double points. All three waves for each surfer count in the scoring and bonus points are awarded for teams that finish before the 60-minute mark.

Many of the world’s best will be on show in the event, including world champion Mick Fanning, Parkinson, No.4 Taj Burrow, Dean Morrison, Chris Davidson and Kai Otton.

Also on the three-day event’s program will be the FCS Manufacturers Cup for surfboard shaping companies and the Jim Beam Boardriders Cup for the club champions from more than 60 groups around the coastline.

Wayne Hudson will represent Port Macquarie in the weekend’s Boardriders Cup.