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AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou (R) addresses the media. Slattery Images
Aside from the token gesture that was the Hall of Fame Tribute Match held in 2008, the concept of State of Origin footy has been outside the AFL landscape for over a decade now.
The last true Origin clash was in 1999, when Victoria defeated South Australia by 17 points. In front of only 26,063 fans.
The small turnout at that game, and sub-20,000 crowds in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth the two years previous, gave a clear indication that it was time to push the concept aside for a bit. To be fair, it just had to happen.
But that shouldn’t mean state football should remain in exile.
Even back in ’99, the official line out of the AFL was that an Origin game would not go ahead in 2000 due to the Olympic Games. They never fully shut the door on Origin.
Even now, the door still seems open. Andrew Demetriou said back in 2008 that he didn’t “think we could kill it off,” adding: “We’ve got to consider how it can be best-used, how effective it could be if we have it perhaps on a cycle.”
Since those comments, however, talk of the concept’s return from AFL House has dropped off.
And it’s unfortunate. Because what’s left to stand in the way of Origin’s return?
Perhaps it’s the idea that it will only lead to the same problems that surfaced in the 90s, but how relevant are those problems now?
Interest in state football began to slow around the same as the VFL went national with the introduction of West Coast, Brisbane and Adelaide. Fans all of the sudden had “their” team represented nationally. More importantly, “their” players were playing against the Vics week in, week out.
These days, the argument that a national competition takes away from state football seems far less relevant.
Support is now well and truly divided in South Australia and Western Australia, just like it was in Victoria during Origin’s stronger years, and players are becoming more and more dispersed.
Just look at some of the AFL’s star forwards – Brisbane’s Jonathan Brown and Brendan Fevola are Victorians, Fremantle’s Matthew Pavlich is a South Australian, St Kilda’s Nick Riewoldt moved to Queensland (from Tasmania) at age nine.
The list goes on. And it will continue to go on, given the amount of transplanted players the Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney clubs are going to require.
Of course, the national competition wasn’t the only issue that brought down Origin.
Dermott Brereton’s revelations in his newspaper column a couple of years ago provide an obvious example of the other flaws Origin matches.
“After playing for Victoria twice, I did my best to withdraw from them. I played in nine by the end of my career and probably withdrew from at least four or five,” Brereton wrote.
And his reasoning?
“It was born out of dedication to my club. Why should you risk injury to yourself for a group of teammates you would be trying to decapitate seven days later?”
The former Hawthorn star’s comments contain two important lessons. The first is that Origin in the past has suffered from overexposure. The second is that players are always going to be conscious of injury and the effect their involvement may have on their clubs.
The solution here is to simply learn from the lessons of the past.
If Origin is brought back, there’s no need for it to be held annually. The novelty – for fans and players – will wear off otherwise.
Likewise, there’s no need for it to be held mid-season. The AFL has put a lot of effort into International Rules, which works well enough because of the timing of it all – it’s held after the season’s finished.
Funnily enough, this also suits both players and (footy-starved) fans.
Origin can provide a (non-hybrid) representative form of the game. It can provide a way to expand the AFL calendar. It can provide an opportunity for rival fans to watch a game supporting the same team. It can provide a homecoming opportunity for players who’ve moved interstate. It can provide further talking points for the media.
Perhaps more importantly, it can provide the return of the Big V, the Croweaters and Sandgropers to the elite level.
Giving the concept a break had to happen. But maybe bringing it back does too?