Representing the town at the biggest tournament of its kind in the southern hemisphere, the local outfit registered a win, a draw and a loss on day one.

Contesting Pool F in the men’s open B division, the Mambas accounted for the Parkes Pumas (1) 7-3 in the opening round.

But, the side suffered a nail-biting 6-5 loss to the Northern Beaches Renegades in the next fixture.

Muswellbrook then bounced back with a 6-all draw with the Cronulla Sharks.

The team’s campaign will gather further momentum on Saturday.

The 40th annual State Cup features former NRL stars Jamie Soward, Scott Prince and Cliff Lyons. 

In total, 240 sides will take to the Regional Sports Stadium and Tuffins Lane over the three-day carnival with more than 300 referees to officiate.

And, as the event continues to grow, NSW Touch Football general manager Dean Russell said it wouldn’t be unusual to see team numbers soar past 300 in the next five years.

“Come the end of our current contract with [Port Macquarie] council in 2018, we could be looking at 400 sides, which is a massive event,” he said.