Talking Footy

AFL pushes state-of-origin
Caroline Wilson | May 30, 2007
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/a ... ntentSwap1

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou is pushing to relaunch a state-of-origin competition next season and is considering punishing players and their clubs for withdrawing under false pretences.

Demetriou, who said that only AFL clubs and their coaches could prevent the series from succeeding, looks headed for another showdown with Sydney coach Paul Roos, who wrote in his newspaper column five days ago that he strongly opposed reviving the traditional concept.

Demetriou told The Age yesterday: "Yes, I want it to happen. From a personal perspective, I'd bring it back. I know the players want it and we've certainly got a terrific opportunity next year to make it happen in our 150th anniversary.

"I think the coaches who don't support it are in the minority now. We've already got a number of scenarios in mind and we'll probably create a subcommittee from within our executive to start working on the logistics. But the only way it can work is if the players picked play. We don't just want the players who put their hands up. We believe we have the support of the clubs, but we would probably have to make it clear that any player withdrawing would be ineligible to play the following week for their club.

"We know we have the support of the players. We asked the captains at the start of the season and they all supported it."

Tellingly, the consultant chosen by the AFL to oversee the 150th celebration planning is Demetriou's close friend and former business partner Jim Carmichael.

Demetriou confirmed his executive had been instructed to analyse the following broad scenarios:

â– A two-week pre-season competition that would replace the NAB Cup. Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and a combined Queensland-NSW team would contest the first week, with the winners contesting the second.

â– A one-week carnival scheduled at the end of round eight, creating another week's break for all clubs.

â– Two mid-season breaks, potentially after rounds eight and 12, again involving the four teams playing off in the first break and a final in the second.

The tantalising prospect of Jonathan Brown and Chris Judd playing in the "Big V" took a step closer to reality when both captains spoke for the concept during the pre-season session with Demetriou and commissioners Mike Fitzpatrick and Bob Hammond.

Judd told the AFL he favoured a pre-season carnival, while Brown is believed to have said he would play any time for his home state, regardless of Leigh Matthews' instructions.

Demetriou's executive in charge of state-of-origin planning is Colin McLeod, who confirmed last night that the AFL would take its final recommendation to the commission by July. McLeod, who returned from talks in Perth last week, met the West Australian Football Commission, where state of origin was canvassed and received an overwhelming thumbs-up.

"What we're doing at the moment is analysing the last few state-of-origin competitions," said McLeod, "down to issues of eligibility, timing, format, selection, who controls the matches, player payment issues, commercial issues and create a chart for the future.

"The feedback we are getting has been extremely positive and if we can pull it off, we will. The coaches couldn't be allowed to control it, I guess, in the manner that they did towards the end in the past."

Added Demetriou: "We would launch it in 2008 as a one-off and if the concept worked, we would look at running it perhaps every two or four years."

Not only have the AFL's three television broadcast partners shown enthusiasm for state of origin next season, but the competition's sponsors are also keen. NAB, whose pre-season regional challenge would run for two weeks before a state-of-origin carnival, has indicated it would push to sponsor the revival.

The most recent state-of-origin match took place eight years ago when only 26,000 attended a Victoria-South Australia clash at the MCG. That game was marred by dreadful weather, lack of club support and a high number of player withdrawals.

Roos wrote in his Sydney newspaper column last Friday: "State-of-origin football is a great concept for rugby league. I have to admit even as an AFL coach and former player, I'm hooked on league's annual showcase series between NSW and Queensland. Without fail, it produces great theatre and drama unmatched in the NRL regular season. But I don't want to see state-of- origin football return to AFL. We don't need it. In the AFL, we have state-of-origin football every weekend."

He added he would only make his players available if the AFL managed to "elevate the game's status to where it was".

"I doubt the AFL can do that, given the strength of the home-and-away season now. It becomes a classic catch 22."

â–  A two-week pre-season competition.

â–  A one-week carnival at the end of round eight.

â–  A carnival played during two mid-season breaks.

Leave Origin to the NRL
Richard Hinds | June 2, 2007

HINDSIGHT

AS THE speculation about the next State of Origin clash gathered momentum this week, I was trying to recall my most vivid Origin memory.

Was it lingering near the medical room at Victorian training in the early 1990s as a succession of stars produced their equivalent of the schoolboy's note from mum? (Dear State of Origin coach, please excuse Johnny from playing this week as he has a cold. Signed, Johnny's club coach.)

Or was it that tightening knot you would get in the stomach as a player from your club lined up for Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia or the grab bag of players from the smaller footy states and territories playing under the vaguely militaristic title of "The Allies"? Please, football gods, you would beg, just don't let him get hurt!

I am talking, of course, about the Australian football version of State of Origin, from which all other state of origin originates, if you follow me. If you don't, here is a brief and fairly patronising history lesson.

State of Origin football was invented by the administrators of the old VFL to to placate West Australians and South Australians whose already limited self-esteem was diminished by the sight of their state football team being routinely beaten by a Victorian outfit that included many of their homegrown best.

And so, in October 1977, a West Australian team loaded with stars who plied their trade in the VFL thrashed Victoria by 94 points in the very first State of Origin match and a brilliant concept was born.

That the actual brilliance of the concept would not become fully apparent until it was adopted, perfected and celebrated by the Australian Rugby League is something with which the English might identify. After all, they know what it is like to make up the rules to such wonderful sports such as football and cricket, only to have johnny-come-lately Brazilians or Australians put them into practice.

Which is not to say that VFL's State of Origin did not have its time in the sun. Throughout the 1980s, there were some epic battles, particularly those involving South Australia, whose ingrained hatred of Victoria exceeds even that of Victoria's for NSW on the national scale of pathetic petty jealousy.

Some fans - particularly those of perennial underachievers with small memberships who weren't used to regularly attending blockbuster games - still go misty-eyed recalling the crowd of 90,960 that turned up at the MCG in 1989 to see a Victorian team that included all-time greats Tony Lockett, Jason Dunstall and Gary Ablett wallop South Australia.

Memories such as these have been evoked by those calling for the return of AFL State of Origin. Unfortunately, such memories don't allow for the change.

A bit like getting so sentimental about a dead pet that you exhume it from its grave beneath the compost heap, I fear the results of digging up AFL's State of Origin could prove disappointing. Which is why those getting all excited about the prospect of some all-star Origin spectacular next season should remember why it was put down in the first place.

The common theory is that, with the expansion of the AFL, "we have State of Origin every week", which is partly true. The national competition has ensured that South Australians can regularly get one over Victorians and ignore, for just a few hours each weekend, the fact they live in Adelaide.

But the real reason AFL Origin died is that the game's most important stakeholders, the fans, care far more about club than state or even country. While rugby or football fans might crow about their worldwide games, the wonderfully insular nature of AFL is what makes it the strongest domestic code in the nation. It is the reason it is the one sport that can attract a "disappointing" crowd of 50,000 for a club match.

There are other problems with AFL Origin, such as the fact it lacks the head-to-head intensity of the rugby league version. The scheduling became like a gala ball, with Victorians on the floor and SA and WA constantly tapping them on the shoulder asking for the next dance. Meanwhile, the stars from elsewhere were Origin wallflowers.

AFL Origin does have the support of many players. Some are so desperate for representative honours they even take the ridiculous "International Rules" games against Ireland seriously. Perhaps those elite performers deserve the chance to engage in epic battles with their peers from different states. Just not the elite performers from my club.

Fatality wrote:

Speaking of State of Origin, what about TASSIE? Why are we forgotten, look at how many Tassie players have made it to the AFL. How can it be called State of Origin if Tassie isn't represented???