Just 24 hours before jetting across the ditch, coach Tony Chegwidden has promised Otumoetai won't return home wondering "what if" as they do battle for the right to play against the world's leading teenage footballers from clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Otumoetai's under-15 side fly to Melbourne tomorrow to represent New Zealand in the Pacific finals of the Nike Manchester United Premier Cup.
They will take on Mainland Football qualifiers Cashmere Technical (Christchurch) and Australia's six leading state club teams, with the Melbourne winner qualifying for the 20-team global final in Beijing later in the year.
The global final is usually played at Old Trafford in Manchester but was switched to China to coincide with the Red Devils' pre-season trip to Asia.
Otumoetai won the Waikato-Bay of Plenty regional tournament with convincing wins over Claudelands and Hamilton Wanderers, progressing to the Northern Federation finals at Auckland's Bill McKinlay Park against Northern Football's Forrest Hill Milford and Auckland Football champions Onehunga Sports.
Onehunga are coached by Oceania player of the century Wynton Rufer and last year went all the way to the global final.
Otumoetai downed Forrest Hill twice, 1-0 and 2-1, and drew 1-1 in their first clash with Rufer's side to set up a winner-takes-all final round game against Onehunga which Otumoetai only needed to draw to progress on goal differential.
They put the result beyond doubt when a 0-0 deadlock was broken in the second half via a Connor Probert corner kick that was caught by the wind and snuck in at the back post.
"It was quite funny because Wynton came up to me before that last game saying he didn't expect our kids to be that good and didn't know we had such good players in Tauranga," Chegwidden said. "But after we beat them everyone from Onehunga disappeared. I later heard half their parents had booked their flights to Australia, anticipating a win."
Chegwidden's troops are no strangers to the rigours of taking their Kiwi brand of the beautiful game across the ditch, with the bulk of the current team two years ago winning the prestigious Gold Coast Champions Cup, beating Queensland champions Loganholme 3-0 in the semifinal and top Victoria state side South Melbourne 2-1 in extra-time.
Chegwidden said the fact they had already knocked over last year's Pacific finals champions was a boost.
"It's our first time in the competition and the first time Waikato-Bay of Plenty entered a team so to beat a team like Onehunga will give us plenty of confidence heading over there. We'll back ourselves, and with 10 of this side part of the squad that won on the Gold Coast, we know what the best Aussie teams are like and know how tough it'll be."
Assessing his side's strengths, Chegwidden, who will be assisted in Melbourne by former All White Paul Probert and Lee Hillier, said they liked to attack.
"We'll definitely score goals and play a brand of football that's fast and along the ground. We're a good team to watch and won't come back wondering 'what if we'd done this or that'. We'll pull out all the stops and if we play to our potential it'll come down to who takes their chances best."
Otumoetai started training in mid-January, several months later than Onehunga and Forrest Hill, but Chegwidden has had the bulk of the squad for four years, where they were unbeaten for several seasons in the Western Bay league. They've now scattered to play for their various college teams but continue under the Otumoetai banner in the Waikato-Bay of Plenty federation Sunday league.
Chegwidden said he'd noticed plenty of changes as the players morphed from boys into teenagers.
"Dealing with 11-year-olds is a lot different to 14 or 15-year-olds and the changes have been immense, not least of all the amount of testosterone flowing!
"As young players they sucked everything in and wanted to learn, whereas they're a lot more focused now and you can talk a lot more openly with them, spelling out their strengths and weaknesses without tiptoeing around things."
Otumoetai will be picked up tomorrow by luxury bus and driven to Auckland. Nike have paid for everything - flights, transfers, accommodation and food - with each player also getting $1000 worth of gear from the sportswear giant. Win, lose or draw it'll be a trip of a lifetime.
"Imagine our guys lining up against some of the giants of world football. Manchester United, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea and little old Otumoetai from Tauranga - sounds pretty good don't you think!"