Braden Quartermaine: Bushfire bash great for raising money but may have hosed down State of Origin for good

The Bushfire Relief match between Victoria and the All Stars in February last year did a great job of raising money for the many victims of the devastating blazes. But the stars involved did just as good a job of turning the hose on attempts to revive a genuine State of Origin competition. As worthy as the night at Marvel Stadium was, and more than 50,000 fans packed in to witness the spectacle, watching the AFL’s biggest names jog around for a virtual training exhibition was a body blow for those hoping it would lead to a return of a serious state-against-state tournament. If that’s what State of Origin looks like in the 21st century, then I think we’ll all be happy to leave it in the past. The game assembled the most talent on one football field since the 2008 Australian Football Hall of Fame match along similar lines. Tackling and defending were optional extras as the ball zinged from end-to-end, with Victoria running away with it in the last quarter to win the shootout 24.10 (154) to 15.18 (108). Sold as ‘State of Origin’ to a Victorian audience, it was a chance to see Dustin Martin, Marcus Bontempelli, Scott Pendlebury and Patrick Dangerfield team up as the Big V was revived. In a serious game it would have been fascinating to see them take on Nat Fyfe, Patrick Cripps, Lachie Neale and Elliot Yeo. But with benches as long as a Fremantle injury list and players constantly rotating, there was no prospect of recapturing what made State of Origin the attraction it once was – the engrossing individual battles. The pandemic has meant optional extras have been put on hold, as the AFL devotes its energies to preserving its core product and the economic model of the industry. RIP AFLX. But the incredible success of the recent Dreamtime game at Optus Stadium comes as food for thought. It showed there is a huge audience in WA willing to attend one-off games, even if they don’t involve West Coast or Fremantle. It was enough to prompt former St Kilda player Leigh Montagna to this week call for a Western Australia v Victoria State of Origin blockbuster at Optus Stadium during the pre-season next year. Of course it all looks fantastic on paper and Victoria and WA look to be the two strongest States by some distance. But unless the prevailing culture - where club priorities dominate to the exclusion of everything else - can be shifted first, staging such a game would be an insult to what State of Origin used to be about. Former West Coast and WA captain John Worsfold made an interesting observation after being voted in by the public as WA coach for a fantasy clash conducted by The Sunday Times a few years ago. Worsfold said similar circumstances to those which led to the birth of State of Origin in 1977 were reappearing, with some of WA’s best talent now scattered around the nation and the number of locals playing for West Coast and Fremantle having been diluted by the national draft. Suggesting the concept be brought back during the pre-season, Worsfold believed the death of State of Origin from a WA viewpoint in the early 1990s had come about because the Eagles emerged and fielded a team filled with West Australians on a weekly basis. West Coast won the 1992 premiership with an entire 20-man team of locals. Often drafting local, the Eagles have retained a strong core of West Australians and the side that defeated Richmond last weekend included 14 locals, five Victorians and three South Australians. When the Dockers played their first game in round one 1995, all but two of their side were WA products. But their transformation has been sped up by lower finishes on average which have resulted in higher draft picks. The three Vs on Fremantle’s guernsey are quite appropriate. The Dockers team that defeated Gold Coast last weekend included 11 Victorians and only eight West Australians, along with a pair of South Australians and one Tasmanian. Five of the top-six finishers in last year’s Doig Medal were Victorian and the cream of the club’s youth they hope will carry them up the ladder were drafted from Victoria. WA State of Origin Dream Team* B: Sam Taylor Tom Barrass Brad Sheppard HB: Daniel Rich Jeremy McGovern Liam Baker C: Dom Sheed Patrick Cripps Sam Menegola HF: Shai Bolton Jack Darling Mitch Duncan F: Lance Franklin Aaron Naughton Liam Ryan FOLL: Nic Naitanui Nat Fyfe Tim Kelly Int: Oscar Allen, Jaeger O’Meara, Elliot Yeo, Michael Walters. *Theoretical team assuming all players fit and available