All five New England first grade clubs are featured in a squad which coach Mark Charter described as a "nice mix."

"It is not just one or two of the clubs that are providing the players," he said.

"That is probably the positive for us, it is a good mix of different blokes from different clubs. Probably all of those guys are the better players from their individual clubs which is what you want for a rep side."

The Armidale Blues boast the highest representation with seven players in the squad, followed by the Barbarians with six.

Second-placed Tamworth have five players in the team while reigning premiers and competition leaders Robb College have three and St Albert's have one.

"I think it is always a bit hard around exam time, guys finishing up uni term and I think the the drought at the moment is impacting those blokes from more rural backgrounds," Charter said.

"A lot of those kids are going back to help out on their family farms.

"We would probably like a few more Robb guys there but it is just availability."

New England will contest the second tier Richardson Shield against Far North Coast, Western Plains and Central North. While they haven't spent a lot of time training together, Charter believes the New England team could trouble a few sides.

"It has been a fairly short and sweet preparation for but all of the guys have been working hard within their own clubs, have been playing good footy within their own clubs so for us it is really trying to come together as a unit," he said.

"If they can do that well, they give themselves every chance of being successful.

"We will just see what happens on the weekend, I know all the guys going down on the weekend are very capable."

Their first match will be against Far North Coast on Saturday at 11.20am at Scully Park.

New England will not be entering a women's team in the 10s or 15s championships this weekend due to their current format being aimed at women's sevens.

The organisation are building towards fielding sides in the future.

Squad: