As AFL prepares to reboot State of Origin, there are hopes it can capture the imagination of a new generation

An observer no less esteemed than the great Dennis Cometti once declared state clashes between WA and Victoria “the purest football” he had ever seen.

Cometti was talking about watching the games as a youngster, at Subiaco Oval, where he would front up to put faces to the names he’d only heard on the wireless, like Barassi, Whitten and Skilton.

But that was a long time ago now.

In a modern football landscape where the national competition is king and player power, coupled with free agency, is stripping the game of most of its old-world charm, does Origin have any place left?

On February 14, Valentine’s Day, we’ll find out if there’s any love left for the idea, when WA and Victoria face off at Perth Stadium.

And there will be plenty of judges on hand, with the match already a sell out and 60,000 tipped to be on hand for the clash.

Origin the ‘pinnacle’

In launching the game last year, Eagles great Glen Jakovich waxed lyrical about his childhood.

“That pinnacle, from 1984 to about ’87, we saw some of the best footballers this country has ever seen represent their state,” he said.

Jakovich played a key role in 1991, perhaps the last time a state game truly mattered, when Western Australia destroyed Victoria on a night of biblical rain at the WACA Ground.

The WA team that night featured 15 West Coast Eagles players, coached by Victorian Mick Malthouse.

The Vics had a few handy players of their own: Gary Ablett Snr, Simon Madden, Paul Salmon, Stewart Lowe, Robert Harvey and Paul Roos all fronted up.

But despite the glory days of the 1970s and 80s, the arrival of a national competition and the corresponding weakening of the WAFL, SANFL and VFL, started to signal the beginning of the end for State of Origin football.

Buy-in, injury worries

Key to making it work will be getting the players on board, and so far plenty of big names have put up their hands.

From WA, stars like Patrick Cripps, Luke Jackson and Chad Warner have declared they’re keen, while Victoria’s squad so far features a midfield of Noah Anderson, Matt Rowell, Nick Daicos and Marcus Bontempelli.

Coaches Dean Cox and Chris Scott look set to have an embarrassment of riches at their disposal.

Jakovich said modern players are poorer for not having the experience of state footy.

“I grew up on it, it’s in my DNA and I feel like [modern players] are missing something in their football careers,” he said last year.

Jako’s nostalgia was palpable, but he’s talking about getting a generation raised on Instagram and TikTok to summon passion for a concept that peaked before their parents were legally allowed to drink.

AFL boss Andrew Dillon was also spruiking the positives.

“When the players buy in, the clubs buy in and then the fans buy in,” he said.

Jakovich described the game as providing the players selected with the “foundation, a base for a big 2026”.

And, more than likely, it will.

But Jakovich knows only too well the pain that can be caused by an innocuous turn during a game of football.

It was one of those during a 1996 game against St Kilda that cost him a year of his career with a serious knee injury.

To some observers he was never the same player again.

What the implications are for the game should someone suffer an injury that alters the course of their year, or career, are not immediately clear.

Learning from league

In rugby league, State of Origin remains the pinnacle of the sport.

It’s tribal, and players from different states who play for the same club become bitter, sworn enemies for 80 minutes, three times a year.

The players want to be selected, and the intensity of the contests is proof positive the concept is alive and kicking.

It’s in stark contrast to the way the AFL allowed origin to wither and die on the vine through the 1990s.

Although there have been plenty of soundbites in the lead-up to AFL Origin to try and drum up the intensity, mostly from selectors Garry Lyon and Jakovich, it all has a bit of a bit of a WWE feel about it.

If the sides are serious the proof will be in the pudding.

There have been other reboots this century, most recently a bushfire relief fundraiser in 2020.

Last year’s Indigenous All Stars clash against Fremantle was another attempt to grab some column inches and clicks over the summer.

But the intensity in these clashes, with nothing at stake, left a little to be desired.

South Australia also presents a conundrum.

There is a beautiful dichotomy to the rugby league State of Origin. There are only two states who care, and the animosity between them is deep-seated.

In Australian rules football, South Australia has claims to a footballing tradition that runs just as deep as that in WA and Victoria.

The clash between WA and Victoria is great for those states, but there will a sizeable contingent of AFL players and fans with zero skin in the game.

The timing of the match also raises a few question marks, with 40-degree days certainly not unheard of out west in February.

With a three-hour time difference and Victorian TV audiences to consider, the 4.40pm start time could make for an uncomfortable evening.

For the concept to succeed it needs a full-blooded commitment from the AFL.

Run it for five years, at least.

That might be enough time to allow a new generation to get passionate about a game they only know from YouTube clips and stories their parents have told.

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