As one of the two home-town teams, Neepawa skip Jerry Chudley and his rink of third Kevin Cooley (Brandon), second Brent McKee (Brookdale), lead Paul Robertson (Neepawa) and fifth Jason Vinnell (Neepawa), know they’re going to be getting a little extra support for each rock they throw. And they’re hoping that will help them be one of the final eight teams remaining in the 2013 Safeway Championship. “Our goal is to qualify in to the playoffs,” Chudley said. “We’ve been curling well lately, so I think that’s something we are able to do.” Chudley skipped his way to his first appearance in a Safeway Championship in 2012 where his team began the tournament with two consecutive wins against skips Terry McNamee and Jason Gunnlaugson, but was knocked to the “B-side” courtesy a loss to Jeff Stoughton’s rink. Chudley’s crew was eliminated in the next game in a loss to McNamee. Cooley and Robertson are both returning members of Chudley’s rink from that year. “Last year we came one game short (of the playoffs),” Chudley said. “We’re definitely confident we can reach them this year. We’ve just got to play well, catch fire, and make a run.” The Neepawa-based rink qualified to the 2013 Safeway Championship by placing as runners up to Team China at the Brandon Berth Bonspiel. As Team China isn’t eligible to compete in the provincial curling championship, Chudley’s rink claimed the berth. Throughout the winter, the foursome also competed in the Westman Super League. Last year also marked Paul Robertson’s first appearance at the Championship, while it was Cooley’s sixth appearance at the tournament. This will be McKee’s first appearance in the Safeway Championship. Chudley’s rink will play their first game on Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. against David Kraichy’s Fort Rouge rink.