The field of competitors at the Tim Horton’s Brier in Kingston, Ontario is one of the toughest, if not the toughest, ever seen.

Defending champ Kevin Koe is joined by other heavyweights in the sport including Brad Jacobs, Brad Gushue, John Epping and Mike McEwen who won the wild-card game Friday night beating Glenn Howard.

Matt Dunstone is no stranger to the Brier having played on the Steve Laycock team in 2018, but this will be his first time at the event as a skip.

Dunstone says he and his rink consisting of third Braeden Moskowy, second Catlin Schneider and lead D-J Kidby are ready to battle the game’s best.

“I don’t think anyone in this field is going to roll through, but if you can find a way so be it.” Dunstone said. “We have played many of this rinks before and have had mixed success against them so we will have to be on the top of our game.  If you don’t have your A plus game this week, you’re not going to do well but you can say that about every rink.”

There isn’t a lot of talk about Dunstone getting into the playoffs because of the talented field that has been assembled. He says that suits him fine,

“Its not wrong to think as guys like Koe, Gushue and Jacobs to be front-runners because of what they’ve done.” Dunstone said. “Its easier on us to not have the expectations of everyone, but we have an expectation that we can win this thing and if we do it under the radar that’s fine.

Dunstone’s first game is against McEwen on Saturday night.