The side will play in the men’s A grade competition at the annual tournament, which will be its first serious hit-out for 2010.

Newly-appointed playing coach Gainey explained the Seahawks had completed five pre-season training sessions.

“We’ve probably had 15 to 20 players at every one,” he said. “Some of them are playing in other teams this weekend so we’ll have nine or 10 of them. It’s pretty much the same guys as last year.

“Our season is still two-and-a-half months away so we’ll probably look at recruiting a few people in February.”

Warrnambool will come up against Melton Thoroughbreds, Sherbrooke Suns, the Victorian under 20 side, Diamond Valley Eagles and the Ballarat Miners at the Seaside Carnival.

“They’ll all be pretty hard but I think we’ll still do well because the boys are a lot better than they were last year,” Gainey said.

“It’s just basically about getting some experience in games.

“We’ve only been playing against each other at training so it will be a bit different playing against someone else.

‘‘Hopefully we can have some wins as well.”

The American coach hoped spectators would support the Seahawks at their first outing for the year.

The side is part of the tournament’s new Saturday Night Special, which sees four big games played on the show court.

The feature game will see the Miners and Eagles clash, with the Seahawks to follow in the Night Rider game.

They will take on the Thoroughbreds — a Big V division three team.

Tip-off for the feature is at 7.30pm while the Seahawks will take to the court at 9pm.

The Seahawks’ first match is Friday at 9pm against the Suns.