Thousands expected to hit town as State Cup build-up continues

For the second year Dubbo will host the event and the council is expecting thousands of players, spectators and officials to be in attendance.

In 2023, 187 teams took part in the three-day carnival, a figure which will increase to 202 this year.

Dubbo Regional Council recreation coordinator Tracey Whillock said preparations are continuing to progress.

"It's going really well, we had a meeting with operations on Wednesday and we are really happy with where we are at," she said.

"The rain we had on Wednesday as well would have helped really nicely down at the Lady Cutler Sporting Precinct.

"We've got everything locked in and all of the stuff we need to hire whether it is fencing, marquees and hydration stations.

"We've been working with Dubbo Touch to get food vendors locked in, things are progressing well."

The increase in teams coming to Dubbo will once again make accommodation tough to secure, one area council were looking at alternate options.

Hotels within the city are already sold out with caravan sites the likely alternate options.

Posters promoting the event are beginning to appear in shop windows and Ms Whillock said things are looking good.

"There are 202 teams which is an increase on last year," she said.

"That's really good and we have started to get the hype up in town with the welcome flags that we have put up.

"NSW Touch are really excited about it."

Locally, Dubbo Touch will have nine teams competing at the carnival and the squads have been hard at work after recently returning from a tournament at Nelson Bay.

Multiple age groups across the carnival will have more than 20 teams competing to win as Manly was the big winner last year.

All of the action will begin on February 23.