Country coach Cam Blades has reduced his initial squad from 43 to 23 ahead of the game at the Hunter Stadium in Newcastle and he will have a lot of Super Rugby experience to inter-mingle with four Premier Club Rugby players, five Queensland Country and four NSW Country representatives.

"We had such a massive pool of players that fitted the criteria. Out of the 43 we had to figure out who we thought would be the likely starting fifteen and then had to look at what the bench options would be," said Blades.

"With Super Rugby still active until we play there still could be some more movement in the squad and so we've been very mindful of that. We've been negotiating with the Super Rugby Clubs about which players will be available. Depending on what changes are required going forward there could be a few tricky decisions still to be made."

Blades will get five days to work with his players before they take on the Lions and will be hoping to create a highly competitive team in a short space of time.

"It'll be a massive occasion and the challenge isn't just to make the team, the challenge is to take on the Lions and see where we can take it. What the Lions can expect is a bunch of blokes who are going to come together with a common goal of absolutely taking the game to them," said Blades.

"We'll certainly be going in there to display our skillset while being mindful of trying to shut down a lot of the threats that the Lions possess and give ourselves the opportunity to play a bit of Rugby and see if we can pull off an historic win.

"It's a great opportunity for the guys who are still actively playing in the bush and for those born in the country or have a playing history in the country, whatever playing level they're at.

"We have plenty of guys in the squad at amateur level who will get the once in a Rugby lifetime chance to pit themselves against professionals that are all hardened Rugby players. It's a good opportunity for them to put their skills on display and see if they can use this game to launch themselves further up the Rugby pathway.

"It's also a very unlikely occasion, it almost certainly won't happen again for all of the players, most will never get the chance to play against a touring Lions side again.

"There might be the odd player in the camp whose Super Rugby team may play them in the Tour, but outside of that it will be a once in a lifetime experience for these guys and something I'm sure they'll cherish."

Combined NSW / Queensland Country Squad

Rikki Abraham (Qld Country) Prop
Dale Ah-Wong (Qld Country) Wing
Phoenix Battye (Force) Lock
Jarrad Butler (Reds) Backrow
Lewie Catt (NSW Country) Centre
Tom Cox (Brumbies) Wing
Tim Davidson (Rebels) Backrow
Trent Dyer (Rebels) Backrow
Blake Enever (Reds) Lock
Dylan Evans (NSW Country) Prop
Alex Gibbon (Southern Districts) Centre/Wing
Ben Greentree (NSW Country) Centre
Haydn Hirsimaki (Qld Country) Prop
Tom Kearney (Qld Country) Hooker
Josh Mann-Rae (Brumbies) Hooker
Adam McCormack (NSW Country) Halfback
Tim Metcher (Southern Districts) Prop
Angus Roberts (Rebels) Fly half/Full back
Beau Robinson (Reds) Backrow
Tereta-Junior Siakisini (Qld Country) Centre
Michael Snowden (Force) Halfback
Richard Stanford (Eastern Suburbs) Lock
Nathan Trist (Sydney Uni) Full back/Wing