Why State of Origin every four years in an Olympic cycle makes sense for fans and players
Imagine Sam Walsh and Matt Rowell – decked out in the Big V – are going with South Australian’s Connor Rozee and Izak Rankine. This could be the next installment of Origin, writes Glenn McFarlane.
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Just imagine this scenario.
It’s late February 2024 and there are 50,000 screaming fans at Adelaide Oval.
Sam Walsh and Matt Rowell – decked out in the Big V – are going head-to-head in the midfield with Connor Rozee and Izak Rankine, wearing the South Australian guernsey.
Further across in Perth the next night, there’s a parochial WA crowd cheering on Aaron Naughton, Sydney Stack, Jordan Clark and Luke Jackson with the black swan on their chests squaring off against the likes of Nick Blakey, Tarryn Thomas, Callum Mills and Eric Hipwood.
In the wake of Friday night’s bruise-free but entertaining bushfire relief game between Victoria and the All-Stars, the question is whether State-Of-Origin footy still has a place in a jam-packed AFL calendar.
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Was this a good-natured one-off for the much-needed bushfire relief cause?
Or do we believe the players when they say they want more regular opportunities to represent their states, even if we know the clubs don’t?
Maybe the above scenario – a four-year revolving fixture neatly fitting into the Olympic cycle – could be the way ahead for State-Of-Origin into the next decade.
Let’s face it, the AFL calendar is so crowded and the premiership stakes are too high to ever imagine we could play representative footy on an annual basis.
It just won’t happen!
But having the Vics, the Croweaters, the Sandgropers and the Allies (comprising NSW, Tasmania, Queensland and the Northern Territory) combine to play two games every four years could actually work, especially placed between the first and second pre-season games.
Those games might still turn out to be “the AFL’s ultimate sugar rush, football’s version of a massive showgrounds dose of fairy floss”, as my colleague Jon Ralph described Friday night.
It was a fair assessment, but what’s wrong with that?
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The goodwill, mateship, shared stories and sense of belonging – not to mention the chance to give something back to the community – generated on Friday night shouldn’t be denied for the likes of Walsh, Rowell, Rozee, Naughton, Blakey and co when they reach their peak.
Nat Fyfe, for one, said he was taking plenty of lessons learnt from this experience and seeing how they could help him, and his Fremantle teammates, into the future.
Victorian coach Damien Hardwick is a fan of keeping the Big V flame burning, saying: “I think the players now have a real need and a real want to play.”
“I wouldn’t say that it’s an annual event, probably every third year perhaps would be something we could look at.”
“The Big V is such a big thing and been a big part of my childhood and I would imagine it would become (the same) for the kids of today also.”
By having two games every four years – with the opponents and the venues flipped around each time – it would give AFL players at least one, two or three chances across their careers to represent their state.
And a new charity or a new cause could be the beneficiaries.
Out of a national tragedy and a need to give something back to the fire-ravaged communities (it might turn out to be more than $5 million), we finally got to see the Big V on show again after a 12-year absence.
That’s too long to wait again, and by reintroducing representatives sides from WA, SA and the Allies, it would keep some of the passion of the past alive, albeit only every four years, even if we know it won’t be played at full throttle.
WHAT 2024 ORIGIN COULD LOOK LIKE
Victoria v South Australia, Adelaide Oval
Western Australia v Allies, Perth Stadium
Originally published as Why State of Origin every four years in an Olympic cycle makes sense for fans and players
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