Saints young gun Jade Gresham has told new teammate Brad Hill to ‘watch out’ in State of Origin
Young gun Jade Gresham will be up against a familiar face in Friday’s State of Origin clash. And the youngest member of the Victorian side has signalled his intentions. Plus, another late change for the Big V.
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Victorian midfielder Jade Gresham has warned new St Kilda teammate Brad Hill to “watch out” on Friday night, vowing that the State of Origin for Bushfire Relief match will be no AFLX.
The youngest member of the Victorian side, Gresham will face off against his new Saints teammate Hill, who is set to line up as part of the All Stars team at Marvel Stadium.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE STATE OF ORIGIN NUMBERS
“That will be a bit different,” Gresham, 22, told the Herald Sun.
“I said to him, ‘You better watch out, mate’ because we’ll be at each other I reckon. But it should be good.
“The club came to me and said, ‘Are you interested (in playing)?’. I said, ‘Bloody oath’. I was really excited when I got the call up and I can’t wait to get out there.”
Interstate players will arrive in Melbourne tomorrow ahead of training sessions for both Victoria and the All Stars tomorrow afternoon where captains for the two sides will be picked.
A bumper crowd is expected for the match, with only a small number of $10 standing room tickets still available last night.
Gresham played for Team Deadly in the AFLX tournament last year but said he expected a much more high-intensity and physical hitout in Friday’s State of Origin match.
“It’s pretty special anytime you get to pull on the Big V,” Gresham said.
“Once the ball is bounced I reckon everyone will have a red-hot crack and hopefully we can get a win, the Vics.”
Jumper numbers for the game were revealed yesterday, with 2017 Brownlow Medal winner Dustin Martin beating out Western Bulldogs’ Marcus Bontempelli, Greater Western Sydney’s Toby Greene, North Melbourne’s Shaun Higgins and Gresham to be handed the No. 4 for Victoria.
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Carlton’s Patrick Cripps beat Brisbane’s Lachie Neale for the No. 9 jumper for the All Stars.
After North Melbourne’s Ben Cunnington pulled out of the Victorian side on Monday due to groin issues, Port Adelaide’s Robbie Gray yesterday withdrew from the All Stars side due to foot soreness.
Cunnington was replaced in the Victorian side by West Coast’s onballer Andrew Gaff. Richmond’s six representatives in the Bushfire Relief match will wear the same jumper numbers they do for the Tigers.
But a host of AFL stars will pull on new numbers for the one-off State of Origin clash on Friday night.
Trent Cotchin (9), Bachar Houli (14) and Tom Lynch (19) will play alongside Martin in the Big V while Jack Riewoldt (8) and Shane Edwards (10) are in the All-Stars side. Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury has also kept his famous No.10 for the Vics.
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Victoria and the All-Stars have named 27-man squads for the game.
In other news yesterday, Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson pulled out of his role as an assistant to Victoria coach Damien Hardwick to lead the Hawks in a practice match against St Kilda.
The State of Origin match will raise money to boost a Community Relief Fund set up by the AFL to help rebuild football facilities ripped apart by the devastating bushfires.
The match will be played on Friday at 7.50pm, following an AFLW curtain raiser between Collingwood and Melbourne at 5.40pm.
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VICTORIA
1. Jade Gresham
2. Shaun Higgins
3. Andrew Gaff
4. Dustin Martin
5. Toby Greene
6. Lachie Whitfield
7. Marcus Bontempelli
9. Trent Cotchin
10. Scott Pendlebury
11. Jack Macrae
12. Tom Papley
13. Stefan Martin
14. Bachar Houli
15. Ben Cunnington
18. Jeremy Cameron
19. Tom Lynch
20. Nick Haynes
21. James Sicily
22. Todd Goldstein
23. Josh Kelly
24. Steele Sidebottom
30. Darcy Moore
31. Rory Sloane
35. Patrick Dangerfield
42. Adam Saad
44. Jake Lloyd
46. Mark Blicavs
Travis Boak
ALL-STARS
1. Michael Walters
2. Zach Tuohy
3. Stephen Coniglio
4. Brodie Grundy
5. Brad Sheppard
6. Elliot Yeo
7. Nat Fyfe
8. Jack Riewoldt
9. Patrick Cripps
10. Shane Edwards
12. Callum Mills
13. Taylor Walker
14. Lachie Weller
15. Dayne Zorko
16. Isaac Smith
17. Lachie Neale
18. Scott Lycett
22. Luke Breust
23. Charlie Cameron
26. Tom Hawkins
29. Rory Laird
31. Harris Andrews
32. Bradley Hill
33. Brodie Smith
38. Jeremy Howe
39. Neville Jetta
40. Jason Johannisen