MORE than 1600 meat pies, 720 sausage rolls, 100 kilograms of steak and 60 kilograms of sausages have been ordered for the Riverina Schoolboys Carnival today.

Add in 25 kilograms of bacon, 25 dozen eggs, 75 kilograms of hot dogs, 72 litres of milk, 14 crates of bread and 125 dozen bread rolls.

It takes a lot to feed thousands of kids and their parents, and both the butcher and baker are still on stand-by.

Junee will double in size with more than 4000 people expected and organiser Lola Cummins has been busy preparing for the big day.

NRL CEO David Smith will get his first taste of the carnival, and Cummins is thrilled he will experience the largest rugby league carnival in NSW.

"It's absolutely wonderful that he's gone to be here and have a look," Cummins said.

"He hasn't been before and I think it's ideal to showcase what is being done in regional and rural areas what is being done to promote and foster rugby league in the junior ranks."

The Riverina Schoolboys Carnival has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 1943, when six teams competed

Originally all games were played on Willow Park, but as the carnival got bigger the Junee Showground, then Loftus Oval and Moss' paddock were brought into use.

A few cows turfed out of their home to make way for the footballers might have gotten upset, but they did leave behind their calling cards, so you had to be careful when landing.

Now the soccer ground, it is still used for the carnival and 15 grounds will be used in total.

More than 140 teams will compete in Saturday's carnival, but it's well short of the record number of teams of 242 in 1969 when it was still a knockout rather than a round robin.

Throughout its history the carnival has been the breeding ground for some of Australia's best players with Laurie Daley, the Mortimer brothers, Peter Sterling and Trent Barrett among those have developed their game at the

Daley will return to his old stomping ground with the State of Origin shield, and if Tuesday's Mortimer Shield is anything to go by they will be the stat attraction.

"For us to bring the Origin Shield to Junee, for the Riverina Schoolboys Carnival, where there will be opportunities for thousands of kids to touch the trophy and have photos with it, I think that is pretty special," Daley said.

"It is always good to come down here to the Riverina, to return home, and especially so following our State of Origin victory."