Time to put a stronger focus on SA’s best footballers - even if Origin stays off the AFL calendar

PROUD South Australian Malcolm Blight says it is time to honour the state’s best footballers.

West Coast defender Shannon Hurn would be the perfect player to lead an SA State of Origin team, says Malcolm Blight.

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HOW do we proudly boast SA’s standing in Australian football? Or, more to the point, honour the contribution South Australians make to the game - and make them prouder?

Sadly, SA pride has been dented by the SANFL state team losing consecutive games to WA - the latest at home. At the same time, the admiring attention on SA football has never been greater by the amazing AFL Showdown played at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.

It was truly sweet and sour for SA football at the Oval at the weekend.

Seeing the SA state team walk off the Oval in defeat flattens our spirit. But living through such an epic Showdown made our hearts pump faster and harder - and feel prouder of how our two AFL clubs can certainly put on a great show.

When all the Sunday football panel shows on national television are dominated by enthusiastic reactions on how the Adelaide and Port Adelaide football clubs put on their derby, there is even greater reason to feel SA proud.

This week, the Port Adelaide Football Club takes the Australian game to China. If such an ambitious plan delivers the game more money, new television markets and the chance to grow beyond Australia then more power to the Power and the AFL.

But we should not ignore how much more needs to be done at home. The job of promoting Australian football in Australia is far from done. The AFL has become a grand national competition, fulfilling the vision of being “Australia’s game” from coast to coast each weekend.

It is now club v club. And those 18 clubs are - by the way of the AFL national draft - a mix of talented footballers from not only every point in Australia, but even the US, Ireland and Fiji. Even the Crows and Power each have more non-South Australians on their lists (Adelaide has 13 South Australians, Port Adelaide has 16).

So how do we showcase the best of SA football each year?

Until 1999, we had State-of-Origin teams. And as the importance - and pressure - to win the AFL flag increased at the clubs, the willingness to run state teams sadly faded. The argument is well known: An injury in a State-of-Origin game could wreck an AFL premiership campaign.

Justin Westhoff and Chad Wingard are both members of Malcolm Blight’s SA State-of-Origin team after Round 8.

It is interesting to hear NRL coaches for the first time express their concern with injuries to their stars as they are called up for the NSW-Queensland State-of-Origin grudge series in rugby league. It might be only a matter of time in that code too ...

The fans want Origin - and many will come up with novel ways to set up carnivals or titles that are won across three or four years like a World Cup in other sports.

The players certainly want Origin - as is noted with their annual surveys. No one should doubt the growing power of the AFL Players’ Association. If the players find a concept to push for Origin, the game would have a push the AFL clubs might find too difficult to block.

There are 808 players on AFL lists across the 18 national league clubs. There are 102 South Australians (13 per cent of the total AFL player pool) - 59 from city-based clubs, 43 from country teams.

Each year there should be an SA State-of-Origin team named, just as there is an All-Australian team. Such an honour would stand with pride on any player’s resume.

Ideally, there should be State-of-Origin. Personally, there was great pride - and a true buzz - in being named in a state team, training with the state’s best players ... and winning with them against another state’s group of superstars.

To be coached in a state team by Neil Kerley; to train and play alongside Barrie Robran, Russell Ebert, Rick Davies, Graham Cornes, Stephen Kernahan, Craig Bradley and John Platten left me hooked on the beauty of state football. All these great men are Hall of Famers, so state teams are certainly the collection of SA’s - and the game’s - finest players and coaches.

Collingwood’s Brodie Grundy, left, would be the starting ruckman in Blighty’s SA Origin team.

State football gave me the opportunity to be better. There always was something to learn from the best players at other clubs. You could always pinch a note or two from the greats.

So imagine the way West Coast midfielder Jack Redden or his Fremantle equivalent Lachie Neale would become better players by experiencing the joy of working under Collingwood ruckman Brodie Grundy.

How proud would Shannon Hurn be to lead a South Australian Origin team? The question answers itself.

It might be challenging to return to annual State-of-Origin contests.

But no one - certainly the SANFL should not - ignore the need to showcase the best of SA football each year by honouring our state’s best players in the national competition. An SA Origin team should be named each season with the players handed a tie and a plaque - rather than a jacket - to recognise their leading performances in the AFL.

We should be SA proud - and not just for putting on great Showdowns.

THE MESSIAH’S SA STATE-OF-ORIGIN TEAM

AFTER ROUND 8

B: Shaun Burgoyne (Haw), Phil Davis (GWS), Luke Brown (Adel)

HB: Rory Laird (Adel), Tom Jonas (PA), Shannon Hurn (C) (WCE)

C: Jared Polec (PA), Bryce Gibbs (Adel), James Aish (Coll)

HF: Shane Edwards (Rich), Justin Westhoff (PA), Daniel Menzel (Geel)

F: Chad Wingard (PA), Scott Lycett (WCE), Sam Gray (PA)

1R: Brodie Gundy (Coll), Jack Redden (WCE), Lachie Neale (Fre)

INT: Sam Jacobs (Adel), Ryan Griffen (GWS), Brad Ebert (PA), Jack Graham (Rich), Riley Knight (Adel), George Hewett (Syd), Heath Grundy (Syd), Travis Varcoe (Coll), Bernie Vince (Melb), Ryan Burton (Haw), Paul Puopolo (Haw).