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With the NRL State of Origin fast approaching, it’s timely to re-open the age-old debate about the equivalent contest in the AFL.
However, with such a strong contingent of Aboriginal players in the AFL system, perhaps an indigenous All Stars match is the way forward.
The home-and-away premiership season, including the finals series of the AFL, is undoubtedly the pinnacle of Australian-rules football.
Footy fans from around the country can’t wait to see their beloved team line up for yet another bruising encounter.
However, with the NRL’s State of Origin series just around the corner, the AFL fan can’t help but be just a little envious of what this much-anticipated set of encounters gives to the sport of rugby league.
Every year this series generates heated debate in the Sydney and Brisbane media about who should be in their respective sides, even months before the kickoff.
Every year, it packs out stadiums and never fails to be a ratings bonanza.
When we look at what the AFL has to offer its players and fans in terms of representative football, we see little that resembles anything like the excitement-generating, crowd-pulling spectacular that is rugby league’s State of Origin.
Currently there is the biennial International Rules series between Australia and Ireland, a compromised-rules game that, despite its historically competitive nature, has largely failed to inspire both fans and players alike.
The 2011 version highlighted how apathetic Aussie Rules fans, players and even officials have become towards this series.
The Australian team was completely starved of any star power, TV ratings were very ordinary and – to cap it all off – a mere 23,000 spectators came to watch game one, despite it being played in Melbourne.
The argument over an resurrection of an AFL version of State of Origin generally falls over because of doubts surrounding the competitiveness of teams, financial viability, risk of player injury and overall player and fan interest.
Most conclude that State of Origin died with Teddy Whitten.
However, looking at the success of another rugby-league representative fixture, the now-annual Indigenous All-Stars/NRL All-Stars game, one sees light at the end of the tunnel for the AFL’s representative dearth.
An Australian-rules Indigenous All-Stars team first played in 1983 in Mildura, against a side comprised of players from Mildura and the Richmond football club.
Since 1994, the team has played in Darwin. And since 2003, a bi-annual match between the Indigenous All-Stars and the likes of Collingwood, Essendon, Western Bulldogs and Adelaide has taken place in February, as part of pre-season warm-ups.
I propose it is now time to bring this side into the big time, to play against a team of non-indigenous AFL stars.
The game would showcase the best footballers in the AFL and provide a bona fide, genuine representative Australian-rules contest without compromised rules.
Just pure, first-class, unadulterated footy in an authentic, no-holds-barred contest.
A look at the list of almost 80 currently rostered indigenous players in the AFL shows there is no shortage of talent that could comprise the Indigenous team.
Below is a brief list of stars who would be deserving of a representative jersey:
Graham Johncock
Eddie Betts
Jeff Garlett
Chris Yarran
Patrick Ryder
Lance Franklin
Cyril Rioli
Adam Goodes
Lindsay Thomas
Daniel Wells
Shaun Burgoyne
Lewis Jetta
Having a side comprised of these stars against the likes of Gary Ablett Jnr, Chris Judd, Sam Mitchell and co. must surely be a promoter’s dream.
A match of this billing would surely attract a big crowd, even at the MCG. It would be TV-ratings gold.
It could be played sometime in October, avoiding concerns about player injury impacting a club’s home-and-away season matches. It would also serve as a fitting finale to the AFL season.
Any concerns about this being a divisive initiative along racial lines could be put to bed by the example of the equivalent NRL match.
It has only served as a force for goodwill and rugby league has been the winner.
The AFL would do well to seriously investigate the plausibility of this concept.
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