Mick McGuane opens up on the power of State of Origin and reveals his team to smash South Australia

Mick McGuane has picked a Victorian State of Origin team he thinks would beat SA by 10 goals. But could this Croweaters side cause an upset? Have your say.

Kick a Vic or Stone the Crows?

The passion surrounding State-of-Origin football between Victoria and South Australia still brings goosebumps to the back of my neck, even though we haven’t had a bona fide clash between the two football powers for more than 20 years.

Having experienced the cauldron of playing for the Vics, and having watched the Croweaters with begrudging admiration over the years, it’s a crying shame we don’t allow players to wear their state colours now.

Don’t give me the old story that we are in a national competition and playing for your state isn’t relevant anymore. That’s garbage.

I know the footy calendar is so crowded these days and I realise the risk of turning out in a state game is the last thing clubs want players to do, with the fear of injury a serious and justifiable consideration.

But if we were to have a high-octane, high-pressure State-of-Origin game between Victoria and South Australia – either at the MCG or a sold-out Adelaide Oval – the players would go out of their way to play.

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Ted Whitten and Tony Lockett at State of Origin 1989.

And the crowd on either side of the border would turn up, too.

I feel sorry that the players of today such as Marcus Bontempelli, Max Gawn and Christian Petracca who never got to meet the late, great Ted Whitten, or hear words of wisdom from Vic champions such as Ron Barassi, Bob Skilton and a bloke I loved watching and eventually played with in Dale Weightman.

On the South Australian side, how good would it be to see Lachie Neale, Brodie Grundy and Kysaiah Pickett spend some time with Neil ‘Knuckles’ Kerley, Russell Ebert and Graham Cornes.

Why not bite the bullet and play one of those games every four years, lock in the year (potentially even an Olympic year), and revive what is sadly one of footy’s lost gems.

I’ve had a crack at selecting my Victoria team so far in 2021, mindful that the hypothetical match would be played this Saturday, at the MCG or Adelaide Oval.

I only chose players who are available this week, who have a body of work in 2021 rather than relying on past performances and playing in positions they actually play in (unlike the All-Australian side).

Ted Whitten and Neil Kerley at State of Origin in 1995.

Our colleagues in Adelaide, headed by leading football journalist Matt Turner, have had a crack at the best possible South Australian side to be selected for this week.

With apologies to our SA readers, and call me parochial, but I seriously believe this Vic side would win with a leg in the air, by about 10 goals.

We all know that footy ebbs and flows, but the strength of the Big V side stands out, even if the Croweaters’ defence looks solid and their midfield would at least be competitive against the highly-rated Victorian on-ballers including Gawn, Petracca, Bont and Clayton Oliver.

But teams on paper mean nothing in the heat of a State-of-Origin stoush. We’ve seen some monumental upsets in state footy, and that’s what the South Australians would be hoping for.

Gawn v Grundy would be a mouth-watering clash.

I still think the Vics midfielders would have too much class for their rivals, mainly because of the depth of talent in the line-up.

My biggest concern for South Australia would be their key forwards. Riley Thilthorpe looks like he will be a star, but not yet. Tim O’Brien gets into the team for the simple fact that there is a dearth of available key position talent at the front end.

In selecting the Vics team I had to rule out those who are injured at the moment, including Darcy Moore and Jeremy Cameron, and also those players who are yet to put together a big body of work in 2021 such as Tom Lynch and Patrick Dangerfield.

I didn’t want to choose a team for a Mickey Mouse-style game like the Big V clash with the All-Stars in the Bushfire Charity game last year.

State-of-Origin matches deserve well balanced, high-pressure teams, and I have selected my Big V team with this thought in mind. I’m sure the SA boys have done the same.

Whitten would have loved to see I’ve picked Bulldogs Luke Beveridge and Marcus Bontempelli as coach and captain of my 2021 team.

The Dogs are on top of the ladder, Beveridge is a no-brainer as the coach and The Bont might be on his way to a Brownlow Medal and a second premiership medal.

How fitting is it that Simon Goodwin – the man in charge of the Demons’ revival this year – is the coach of the South Australians, and Port’s captain Tom Jonas will lead his state team.

Most of the Vic defenders were easy to identify, but with Moore out injured, I found filling the centre-half-back role the most difficult to nail.

Matthew Robran, Andrew Jarman and Ben Hart lead SA team on victory lap at the MCG in 1993. Picture: Ray Titus

Tom Stewart was a lock deep in defence, given he ranks No. 1 for all general defenders for intercept marks and intercept possessions.

There might be a few non-Victorian fullbacks ahead of Jacob Weitering, but he’s the best Vic for the role as he rates No. 5 for key defenders in intercept possessions and No. 3 for spoils.

Jake Lever ranks No. 1 across the competition for intercept possessions and he has the capacity to read the ball, intercept it, win it back and kick start the Victorian offence.

Just imagine the boos he would get at a packed Adelaide Oval!

Christian Salem and Jordan Ridley are the halfbacks in my team for obvious reasons.

My surprise packet would be Alex Keath at centre-half-back. But when you drill deep into Victoria’s key stocks as defenders, the cupboard is a little bare right now.

Tom Doedee, Dylan Grimes, Luke Ryan, Jack Henry and Sam Collins were also considered.

But Keath has held the likes of Josh Kennedy, Jack Riewoldt, Tom McDonald and Tom Hawkins to one goal or less this season, which validates his selection.

I’ve got Bailey Dale as my seventh defender, as he has recorded the highest kick rating of any general defender so far this season.

It’s no surprise the two teams considered the benchmark of the first 16 Rounds – Melbourne and Western Bulldogs – dominate my midfield.

I’d be starting with Gawn, Bontempelli, Petracca and Clayton Oliver from the first bounce.

Who from South Australia could stop Max Gawn? Picture: Getty Images

They would be a handful for any team including SA‘s Grundy, Rory Laird, Neale and Jack Redden.

I’ve always felt big games, including State-of-Origin, start and finish with the midfield group.

Good luck to the South Australian team trying to stop my guys.

Bontempelli is the only midfielder to rate elite in terms of goals, score assists and scoring involvements this season

Gawn ranks No. 2 among ruckmen for disposals, contested possessions and intercept marks, but he is also rated elite for hit-outs to advantage.

Petracca is the No. 1 midfielder for inside 50s and he will supply our front half with skill and precision. He is No. 2 for metres gained and total goals for midfielders.

Oliver is the No. 1 midfielder for contested possessions and in state games you need blokes who win first possession from stoppages.

The thing that tips the midfield in Victoria’s favour is that this side can also go to Dustin Martin (forward pocket), Josh Kelly (half forward), Toby Greene (half forward), Jack Macrae (bench), Ollie Wines (bench) and Darcy Parish (bench) to come into the middle in a pinch.

You can’t ignore the form of unheralded wingman Karl Amon and dominant Lion Hugh McCluggage on the other wing. They are locks.

Toby Greene is my vice-captain. Leigh Matthews used to say to us some players are born to play finals. I reckon this bloke was born to play big games, and he would relish the chance to take on South Australia – even in their own backyard.

Tom Hawkins doesn’t fit my criteria. He is from Finley in NSW. While he played for Victoria in junior representative footy, he played for the All-Stars in the Bushfire game, so we left him out on the basis of that.

As much as Lynch is back again, he has missed a chunk of footy, so preparation would be against him.

Cameron and Matt Taberner are out injured, Joe Daniher has made a case, Tim Membrey has been OK and Tom McDonald has been good.

But I’ve gone with Ben King as my centre-half forward. What the 21-year-old has done from a goal kicking perspective – scoring 38.17 – in a team that has been struggling has been impressive.

Marcus Bontempelli and Dustin Martin would be two of the stars for the Vic. Picture: AAP Images

He has been a shining light and would get great supply from the Victorian mids.

If someone had said to me at the start of the year that Harry McKay would be the full forward in the Big V team, I would have been stunned.

But he has kicked 46 goals from his 15 games. He has been a revelation in a team that has struggled at different stages of the season.

There were a few options including veteran Todd Goldstein and Reilly O’Brien as relief ruck for Gawn, but I’ve gone with Sean Darcy.

I love Darcy’s competitiveness, his follow-up work, he will continue to get fitter with more games and he has a good footy brain.

C’mon AFL, I’m excited, and the crowds would be too, so let’s map out a post-Covid pathway to a meaningful return of State-of-Origin.

Originally published as Mick McGuane opens up on the power of State of Origin and reveals his team to smash South Australia