IT DOESN'T matter which team is rumoured to be strongest going into the Toowoomba Rugby League season - Barrett Shield matches between Warwick and Wattles are always close.

Warwick won 24-18 last year on the back of a man of the match performance from half Paul Cantwell.

Cantwell is again No.7 for this year's game on Saturday night at Platz Oval, Clifton.

He will mark Wattles half and last year's Queensland Rangers representative Matt Duggan.

Brad Morrish will again play five-eighth for Warwick and will have the job of marking Wattles player coach Travis Burns who will play his first game for the club in 17 years.

Burns played half, hooker and mainly five-eighth in his 127 appearances in the NRL for Manly, North Queensland Cowboys and Penrith before playing Super League in England.

Warwick will welcome back English outside back Declan McLoughlin for his first game for the club since 2015. He and U18 graduate Kai Etherington are the team wingers.

Cowboys coach Phil Economidis has picked his team for the Barrett Shield game on training form.

One player who has impressed is former Central Coast (NSW) second rower Toby Pearce.

"Toby is big and strong and has impressed at training in the past two months. He has been rewarded for his training ethic with a starting spot in A-grade,” Economidis said.

Burns said the club had put together a Wattles team that would be competitive.

"Warwick will be one of the teams to beat, they have a strong side,” he said.

"We have been training well and if we play to our potential, we will play finals footy this season.

"The Barrett Shield is always a competitive game and there is a bit of feeling in it.”

While Burns said his team wanted to win the shield, he said he would also be using the game to ensure all his players got a run.

"I haven't seen a lot of them play,” he said.

As well as Burns who played Queensland Cup footy last season for Wynnum Manly, Wattles have signed two more players with cup experience, prop Nathan Gaulton and centre Jake Hargreaves. Both will play in Clifton on Saturday night.

Wattles also has two former Western Mustangs stars Will O'Gradey and Wade Austin on their books. O'Gradey play prop for Queensland at U18 level.

Warwick will rest outside back Dan Watson who has a niggling injury and Queensland Cup winning five-eighth Dan Murphy who was injured early in the All Stars game in Toowoomba two weeks ago.

The first match on Saturday in Clifton will be the under-18 game at 4pm.

Reserve grade is at 5.30pm and A-grade at 7pm.

Last year, there were 20 members of the Barrett family at the game in Warwick and a similar number is expected at the game on Saturday.

This year's Barrett Shield is the 26th in A-grade and Warwick has won 14, Wattles 10 and one game was drawn.

See teams tomorrow and a two-page feature on the Barrett Shield in Saturday's print edition