Braden Quartermaine: Why the AFL should let Western Australia take on the Victorians in bushfire fundraiser

The AFL has a rare and golden opportunity to genuinely revive State of Origin football by letting Western Australia take on Victoria in next month’s proposed bushfire fundraising match. This is not a time to fault or criticise the AFL or the Players’ Association over the form any fundraising initiative takes. Talks over the proposed exhibition match have taken place in a spirit of genuine creativity, goodwill and generosity and any event promises to be a good one. But the fact a game between Victoria and a combined All-Stars outfit has emerged as the frontrunner comes as another reminder that the league views everything through Victorian eyes. Like the last game of its kind in 2008 when Victoria took on the Dream Team to mark football’s 150th anniversary, the concept of the Vics taking on the rest is more about feting the traditions of the Big V than respecting the very serious opposition they encountered when the birth of State of Origin allowed players to represent their original states. AFL PLANS STATE OF ORIGIN REVIVAL FOR BUSHFIRE VICTIMS Given we did the Victoria versus the rest concept last time, let’s try something different now. This unique opportunity would be far more meaningful if both groups of players could pull on a jumper that meant something. On paper, Victoria and WA are clearly the two most talent-laden states and deserve this chance. As for some Victorian fans asking for the Big V to face South Australia, they could do with both a history lesson and a look at the team the Croweaters could assemble. While South Australia and Victoria shared an intense rivalry, it came after WA created State of Origin and played some of the greatest matches in football history against the Vics. South Australia is a proud and footy mad state, though you could argue that only a handful of SA players — Brodie Grundy, Lachie Neale, Shannon Hurn, Phil Davis and Rory Laird — would get into a first-choice line-up for Victoria or WA. WA could throw Nat Fyfe, Patrick Cripps, Tim Kelly, Elliot Yeo and Stephen Coniglio at the Big V. And that’s just in the midfield. Big-name players from other states could still be involved in a variety of ways, including being part of the TV broadcast and taking part in ancillary events like goal kicking competitions. Fitting State of Origin into the schedule permanently is not the impossible problem the clubs make it out to be. Early this century clubs played five pre-season games and more recently it was four. This year they will play just two each. There is room for it during the pre-season. John Worsfold would be an automatic and inspired choice as coach should a WA team ever be revived. Worsfold not only captained his State, but he has been one of the few AFL coaches to publicly champion the return of State of Origin. Worsfold believes the death of State of Origin from a WA viewpoint in the early 1990s came about because West Coast were fielding a team filled with West Australians on a weekly basis. “But you can see now over a number of years with the draft and the way it’s now settled, that’s not the case,” he said. “We’re now bringing them from all around Australia. So I think it’s back to that point where it would be exciting to see all those players that you don’t ever see play in the same team coming back together.”