A 27-man squad will make the journey to the city, with their first game being played at Claremont Oval on Thursday, commencing at 2.10pm.

Their first-round opponents are the Central Wheatbelt Football League who once again are expected to field a strong line-up.

A win would keep them in contention to make the final and they would then tackle the loser of the Mortlock versus Lower South West game on Friday at Eftel Oval.

Great Southern will compete in B-Section again this year and will look to go one better than when they finished runners-up after losing to Goldfields Football League in last year’s decider.

Coach Darrell Panizza said the GSFL side was in with a good chance of winning the carnival despite not fielding the strongest line-up possible.

“I am very happy with the calibre of players that have made themselves available,” Panizza said.

“I am confident that we can make something out of this team. We will work on a certain style and I am pretty happy with the direction we are going.”

Panizza said that despite missing the likes of Graham Ross, Jamie Bolton, Brett Hall and Callum Burgess, his side was still capable of winning the carnival.

“Our back half is as good as you will get. They are quick and will use the footy well,” he said. “The likes of Richard Cronin, Nathan Skinner and Sam Lehman are quality players, as good as any in the competition, and we are lucky to have them.”

When asked what he knew about Central Wheatbelt, Panizza replied: “I know they have 48 paid players who compete in their league, so I expect them to be quite good.”

Panizza also fired a shot at some of the other leagues competing at Landmark, accusing them of buying their way to wins in the tournament.

“Once upon a time the West Australian Country Football League wanted this tournament to be about the strongest country players not including paid players from Perth,” he said. “Now A-Section in this competition is all about which league has got the most money.”