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Around this time every year there is talk in both rugby union and AFL circles (and I noticed some in football as well this year) about whether State of Origin is possible in their respective codes.
I love these debates and would love to see State of Origin back in the AFL. But I am a realist and know that unless you can get players, clubs and coaches 100% behind it, it will fail.
And I know that this will never happen. To get Origin to successfully work, there has to be either true hatred between states or exceptional pride in the state one lives in.
None of these will ever occur unless the following unlikely and undesirable situation occurs:
Tough economic times cause resentment between the states with each other. The Federal Government, with whichever dodgy leader is in charge, is unable to solve any issues and everything they do makes Australia suffer more.
After years of pain, Western Australia feel they would be better off being a separate nation so they secede. Queensland soon follows.
The other four states can’t survive without Queensland and WA, so Australia ceases to be a nation and becomes six separate nations.
ACT becomes part of NSW and the Northern Territory either becomes its own nation, or becomes part of Queensland (I prefer the latter).
We now have six separate countries instead of one.
There are tough times for all ‘Australians’. Similar to the world wars, sport is the only thing that brings joy to the people of Australia.
All new nations hate each other and the AFL is forced to disband. Each nation now has its own national league.
Two or three years after Australia falls apart, with states full of hatred for each other (maybe even on the brink of war), State of Origin makes a comeback.
Tasmania, NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and WA all compete. Maybe even after a few years, other nations (Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Ireland, Nauru, South Africa) can play a qualifying tournament for two spots in the tournament to bring the number of teams to eight.
For the league fans, consider this point: if my scenario does ever happen (god forbid), you may see NSW v Queensland in the final of the rugby league World Cup. That would be even better than State of Origin, wouldn’t it?
And just a short disclaimer – I do not want the above scenario to happen. I am simply making the point that as nice as it would be to see AFL Origin, it will never happen unless some unforeseen event occurs, which breeds true hatred between the states.
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