Local players Alex Readford, Ron Franklin and Adrian Underwood are in the Australian men's team while Rona Lazo, Diana Ciufettell and Sydnee Cooke are in the national women's side.

Canberran Jacob Clarke is also the women's team manager.

Almost 40 deaf and hard-of-hearing rugby players from all corners of the country will put their best foot forward at one of Rugby's most inclusive events.

Alex Readford, a Canberra lawyer in the men's side, has been playing rugby since he was an 11-year-old growing up in Dubbo. He also played for Uni Norths while studying at the ANU.

"I'm a second rower. Always doing the dirty work. I'd like to be an inside back, but that's wishful thinking," he said, with a laugh.

Alex, 34, was born with a birth defect that meant he lost all hearing in his right ear.

"My parents noticed when I was slow to speech," he said.

"I'm still a notoriously loud talker."

He is empathetic towards the challenges faced by completing deaf people but also faces his own challenges, always aware that his hearing is not full there.

"All the time," he said. "When people are on my right side, it's hard to hear them."

This Australian deaf rugby tournament is for players who have a hearing loss of at least 25 decibels in one ear or both.

They need to improvise when they are playing.

"When we're on the field, we use hand signals. Hand signals are crucial," he said.

"For those slight of hearing, we need to step into that mindset of using hand signals."

Alex, of Braddon, also participated in World Deaf Rugby 7s tournament in Sydney in which attracted more than 180 athletes from all corners of the world including England, Ghana, Japan and Wales.

He says the deaf rugby tournaments are as much about making connections, overcoming social isolation and enjoying the team environment as competing.

Another Canberran, Jacob Clarke, of Casey, is the team manager for the women's team.

He was born deaf and usually uses sign language. With some players, such as Alex who doesn't use Auslan (Australian sign language), they can trade messages back and forth on their phones.

"It's a good chance to meet new friends who share similar experiences," he said, of the tournament.

A public servant with the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, Jacob, 32, is new to managing a team but a big fan of the Brumbies (as well as the Raiders, but that's another story).

"A player of the team, plus a friend of mine, has asked me to participate and she reckons I have the potential to lead and assist the team, so I decided to take it as a new experience," he said.

"Deaf rugby is an opportunity to exercise new skills."

Alex is also a big follower of the Brumbies but says playing rugby appeals most because of the team aspect.

Australian Men's Deaf Rugby captain and coach Dave Kearsey said the theme was "inclusiveness" so the day would be played "in good rugby spirit".

Games start at 1.50pm on Saturday at Box Hill Rugby Union Football Club in Melbourne and is expected to draw a big crowd with a number of local teams jumping on board to compete.

The Australian Men's Deaf Rugby side will take on the Melbourne Chargers and Vic Masters, while the Australian Women's Deaf Rugby team will front up against a Victorian Women's Barbarians side.

"We're also using this tournament as a selection trial for our Fiji tour at the end of the year so we have deaf and hard-of-hearing players travelling in from all over the country to show off their skills and have some fun," Kearsey said.

"We'll have professional interpreters there on the day and anyone with 25 decibal hearing loss can play so I encourage others out there to come down or make contact if interested in being involved."