![New environment: Nick Bowden will make his debut for Oxley Vale Attunga at Woolgoolga on Saturday after swapping the black and white of North Companions for the red and white of the Mushies. Photo: Peter Hardin New environment: Nick Bowden will make his debut for Oxley Vale Attunga at Woolgoolga on Saturday after swapping the black and white of North Companions for the red and white of the Mushies. Photo: Peter Hardin](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/ingYyB85ps4jmG9t8mfsHP/0d4661db-bd1e-45c8-8d65-53c90da4599c.jpg/r0_0_1017_678_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
There is a sense of the band getting back together about Oxley Vale Attunga this season and at Clive Joass Memorial Fields, Woolgoolga on Saturday the reunion tour officially kicks-off.
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The Mushies face Woolgoolga United FC in Round 3 of the Northern NSW FFA Cup Northern Conference.
The game will see a host of familiar faces back in the red and white with Brendan Fergie, Ryan Searl, Sam Higgins and Luke Purcell all returning after having last season off.
Ben Genardini and Adam Watson are also back although they are unavailable this weekend.
At the other end of the spectrum is Nick Bowden, the Mushies picking him up from North Companions.
"He'll be a handy addition," returning coach Tim Coates said.
More noted as a striker, he will play at left fullback on Saturday.
"We have a lot of forward thinking players and we just asked the question at training, and he's an experienced player and he was happy to help out," he said.
After stepping away from coaching last season, Coates is looking forward to being back on the sidelines.
"We've been training for four weeks," he said.
"We will see how we go."
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It is a bit of an unknown.
"If we were playing against a local side we've got a good side," Coates said.
But how they will stack up against Woolgoolga he's not quite sure.
"The coastal teams are always tougher. They've got a bigger catchment area to select from," he said.
"These guys finished fifth in their competition last year.
"It's a fairly strong competition."
Kick-off is at 4pm.
The Mushies will be flying the flag for Northern Inland with Moree Services FC forfeiting their clash against Camden Haven Redbacks, who knocked The Armidale School out of the competition last week.