She is playing for the Sydney Lions, which also features two of the world's top 10 men in Jeremy Henry and Brett Wilkie.
Edwards, the 2002 Commonwealth Games pairs gold medallist, has experience playing against top male players in the Stoke Invitation Singles event, formerly a mixed event, in her native Nelson and Edwards insists her style is well suited to matching the guys.
"I believe I play like a man anyway in that I'm quite aggressive," says Edwards, 43. "The Aussie boys are outstanding and are very good at what they do.
"Mind, I've got a couple of players playing with me for the Black Jacks (Tony Grantham, world No12, and Ali Forsyth, 2008 world singles bronze medallist) who are top class.
"It's going to be a lot of fun. We hope to go out there and shake them up. Although the game is in a different format, it's not a different game. The aim is to get it as close to the white thing (the jack) at the other end."
Edwards, a member of the United Bowls Club, is the most dominant name in the women's side of the sport having snared four of the last five annual World Cup women's singles titles, the biggest tournament in the sport outside of the quadrennial world championships and Commonwealth Games.
Ranked some 400 points ahead of her nearest rival in the world rankings, there is little the former Football Ferns squad member has not achieved in her chosen sport. Edwards accepts by playing with the men, she can learn and develop her game but she also believes the male bowlers could learn from the women.
"I think women are a bit more patient," explains Liverpool-born Edwards, who competes with bowls inscribed with the club crest of her beloved Liverpool FC. "The guys are a lot more aggressive than the women, but there is a time and place for aggression."
Bowls NZ chief executive Kerry Clark says Edwards has all the attributes to thrive in the competition. He says her dedication and competitive qualities are second to none.
"When we made a decision to enter this competition, there was no doubt in my mind that this needed to have a team representing New Zealand that included both genders. It needed to have the best bowler in New Zealand in it, and that happened to be Jo."
While Edwards admits she is a traditionalist and would not like to see the APL competition format adopted at world championships or Commonwealth Games, she believes it could become common at grassroots level.
"Clubs could run the [two game, five-end] format and have two tournaments a day which would allow people to play more games a day," she explains. "It is going to free up a lot of time. It doesn't take all day to play."
The APL tournament also features teams from Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney and is organised on a sectional basis during the preliminary rounds with the top four teams making it through to a knockout style final round.
