Dermott Brereton reveals his Victorian State of Origin team

The State of Origin team was usually announced after Round 6 and DERMOTT BRERETON has revealed who he would select to wear the Big V.

Patrick Dangerfield and Scott Pendlebury headlines Dermott Brereton’s State of Origin team.

Most of my football paraphernalia has gone to charity auctions, but I still have my first Big V jumper and refuse to part with it.

In days gone by, the Big V State of Origin team to take on South Australia was named after Round 6.

I was chosen for the Victorian squad the week before the State of Origin game in 1984.

This left one club game to navigate my way through before the state game — and I severely rolled my ankle. Later it would require surgery.

At our final Sunday morning state training, coach Kevin Sheedy and Teddy Whitten asked me to train lightly as in a fitness test.

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I could only turn in one direction and I had to kick only on the left foot. The rolled right ankle was too sore.

But my desire to wear the Big V had been a lifetime ambition and much bigger than the pain in my ankle.

E.J. called me over to the boundary and had a laugh. Through his cheeky and devilish smile and laughter, he said to me “you must really want to play?”

I replied, “Yes”. And Ted simply loved that.

Later in my career as my body got more banged up, my desire to play the extra games understandably reduced.

Sometimes the selectors led by Whitten would pull a surprise and name a youngster who had forced his way in — someone like Paul Salmon or Gary Pert.

Then there were the tried, true and trusted Victorian performers — Greg “Diesel” Williams, Flea Weightman, Gerrard Healy, Doug Hawkins and Chris Mew.

It didn’t matter how those guys had been performing at club level.

As long as they hadn’t been in awful form, they were Vics through and through and E.J. would trust them and automatically select them.

Dermott Brereton cherishes his Big V jumper.

So what would a Victorian State of Origin team look like right if they were playing next Tuesday night?

We were allowed six players on the bench, so I have taken the same luxury now. I have named a spare ruckman/seventh forward, a seventh rotational backman and four extra midfielders.

Dustin Martin hasn’t had his best year, but he is Dusty and he gets the Diesel Williams/Flea Weightman Access All Areas treatment.

Alex Keath and Darcy Moore were not a lock for their positions before Round 1, but their performances this season makes them vital in accompanying Mark Blicavs as the three mobile tall’s in defence.

Dermott Brereton's 2019 Victorian Origin side.

Jack Crisp will raise eyebrows. But the backline needs to be balanced and he has once again been excellent in his ability to lock away an opponent and still make creative run.

Little Gazza has been turning on a clinic of late. His body looks to have healed and with no sore spots we are seeing him display wizardry once again.

Clayton Oliver and Rory Sloane both were in contention, but lost out to Ben Cunnington in their roles.

As a Victorian, I’d want to make the South Australian’s suffer a bit of hurt. And Cunnington is somewhat of a “punisher”.

Because the last time we played there in South Australia, they proudly displayed a flag that read “Kick a Vic”. (I’m not so sure the P.C. police at H.Q. in Docklands would cop that these days) but I still get a laugh out of it as part of the overall theatre.

Tom Papley was a little stiff not to get another one of the small forward roles, but we’ll have him in the touring party anyway.

Originally published as Dermott Brereton reveals his Victorian State of Origin team