State of Origin is back! Now can it be here to stay?

Footy will return to TV screens when Victoria takes on Western Australia in Perth this Saturday night in the first Origin match since 1999.

It mightn’t have quite the same feeling as when AFL Origin was at the peak of its powers in the 1980s and 1990s. Which, a whole new generation of footy fans can’t fully comprehend as we didn’t experience it.

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But just having footy back is a win. Let alone getting to see the game’s top stars collide while representing their states for the first time in a tune up for the season proper.

While many have questioned if the players will take it seriously, all the language out of either camp suggests it’s going to be on.

But is it the right time on the calendar? How much of a concern is the injury risks? And will this launch Origin back to its lofty heights?

Foxfooty.com.au spoke with two AFL greats who represented either state in the last showpiece game in 1999, Mark Ricciuto and Brad Johnson, to discuss all things Origin and the future of the All-Star concept.

Victoria captain Marcus Bontempelli and WA skipper Patrick Cripps Photo by James Wiltshire/AFL Photos)Source: Getty Images

GREAT’S HIGHS AND LOWS

Ricciuto has experienced the highs and lows of Origin.

The Crows legend represented South Australia five times in total including playing his first Origin game as just a raw 18-year old in 1994.

Riccuto described it as an “amazing experience” that “meant everything to everyone” and was “one of the best games, if not the best game, I played in.”

So much so that it felt like a grand final.

“Footy park was chock-a-block. I was nearly late to the game and remember thinking I’d be lucky to get there. There was a traffic jam getting there, because people were getting there that early,” Ricciuto recalled foxfooty.com.au.

“Just an amazing experience, it was really tough and hard. It was played like it was a grand final.”

Several years late, however, the format had an adverse effect on Ricciuto.

He went into the 1997 Origin game with a “sore groin” and “probably shouldn’t have played — but did.”

Mark Ricciuto running out for South Australia in an Origin matchSource: News Limited

The consequences? Missing out on a premiership.

“My groin just got worse and worse,” he explained.

“I missed the second-last game of the year, played the last game but couldn’t move. Then I ended up missing all the finals and a premiership.

“Obviously that was the toughest thing I’d had to experience in football.”

“The next year when it came around to State of Origin, I said: ‘Nah, I’m giving it a miss, I’m having a week off, I’m resting up’.

“I had a rest and had a great second half of the year and played in a premiership. It was my only premiership.”

SHIFT AWAY FROM ORIGIN IN LATE ‘90s… NOW CAN THIS REVIVE IT?

Ricciuto noted “things changed pretty quickly” in the mid-90s in a shift that saw Origin become deprioritised and “run and done” by 1999.

Club footy is everything now. Perhaps that’s the way it should be.

The NBA has a similar problem with the way it’s All-Star game has become a you-know-what take.

It’s a complete contrast from rugby league’s State of Origin, which is life and death and sees NRL teams lose key stars during the premiership season.

We’re miles away from that or even potentially having it during a mid-season bye.

Vics prepared for heated contest with WA | 02:15

As such, Ricciuto struggles to see how it can get back to its great heights of yesteryear. If not, he’s unsure on where, or if, it fits in the AFL calendar.

“I love the rugby league State of Origin and in some ways I’m a bit jealous of it. I wonder how we can do it well in AFL football and I don’t know if there’s an answer for it,” he said.

“Is it being played at the right time? Players were going to be playing a trial game anyway, but are they going to be going as hard as an old-fashioned State of Origin game?

“State of Origin football should be thought of as grand final day. That’s what it was at its peak.

“If you ask people from yesteryear what it meant to them at its prime, it was the be all and end all.

“I’d be as happy as anyone if we found a way to get it back to being what it was in the ‘90s and early ‘90s, but footy has just changed so much.

“State of Origin needs to be 100 per cent to do it justice.”

Meanwhile Western Bulldogs champion Johnson, who represented Victoria in three Origin games, has faith in the format’s revival.

Johnson hopes it can “get back to being valued the way it used to be” and thinks “this is an excellent starting point.”

And while some have questioned holding the game in February, Johnson said it’s the ideal ramp up for the AFL season.

“They’re going to set their teams up to play strong football, because it’s their preparation for the home and away season as well. Some of them are only a couple weeks away from their first hitout in Opening Round,” he told foxfooty.com.au.

“As a player, you’re in a real serious mindset about wanting to perform and get plenty of good touches of the footy and commit to a few contests.

“I think it will be quite fierce from the outset, the first half in particular will be really strong, competitive and combative football which everyone will love watching. And it may open up as the game goes on.”

Rohan Smith, Brad Johnson and Chris Grant after the 1997 Origin match.Source: News Corp AustraliaBrad Johnson celebrates with the trophy after the 1998 Origin matchSource: News Limited

HOW REAL ARE THE INJURY CONCERNS?

It’s the elephant in the room.

In an AFL pre-season that’s been marred by injuries across club land, we’re now going to send out the game’s biggest stars and expect them to go hammer and tong in a glorified exhibition game.

Throw in that Saturday’s weather forecast in Perth is 35 degrees and the injury risk is real.

Take Collingwood, for example.

The Pies are dealing with a glut of injuries including the likes of Darcy Moore, Jeremy Howe and Dan McStay. So how would Craig McRae feel about watching Nick Daicos run out on Saturday?

There was even talk some players could pull out in the lead up to the game. But so far only Jeremy Cameron and Brandon Starcevich have been late scratches with legitimate injuries.

AFL Origin hype taking over Perth | 01:09

“I think every coach and administrator at football clubs will be closing their eyes and crossing their fingers. But that’s probably always been the case, even coaches in the mid ‘90s would’ve been like that,” Ricciuto said.

Johnson highlighted there’s a risk of injury in any pre-season game and he thinks there shouldn’t be an over-reaction if a player suffers a setback on Saturday.

“If someone gets injured in this game, that can’t be the reason for the future of this game to be on a knife’s edge again,” the six-time All-Australian said.

“It’s on. The players have committed to it, as they would commit to their own internal practice game.

“There’s enough players so their game times can be managed. Everything is set up for them to make it a successful game with two states going head-to-head.”

SO HOW WILL IT BE DEFINED A SUCCESS?

You can look at this in a few different ways.

Is it sheer ratings and eyeballs?

A big biffo or a controversial moment otherwise that fires people up and gets people talking?

A breakout performance like Brent Harvey’s infamous five-goal haul as a 21-year old in the 1999 game?

All of the above would be ideal!

Victorian trio Bailey Smith, Nick Daicos and Toby GreeneSource: News Corp AustraliaChad Warner fends off Bradley Hill (Picture: Michael Klein)Source: News Corp Australia

For Ricciuto, a clean run on the injury front and buy-in from the players should be the goal.

“No injuries, for starters. Probably players going as close to 100 per cent as possible,” the Brownlow medallist said.

“I think they’ll get the eyeballs on it and I think they’ll probably get a full house over there. So there will be a lot of people watching it, because they’re starved of sport and people love footy.

“I hope the players have a crack.”

Johnson has bigger ideas.

The Dogs great wants to see this springboard the Origin concept and pave the way for other states to get involved in the coming years.

“I think it’s more just renewing the State of Origin football and getting it going again. It may take a couple of years to really star to establish itself, potentially change the time of it, who knows,” he said.

“Ultimately I’m rapt we’re starting again. This gives us a really good opportunity to celebrate the best players from Vic and WA.

“I’m sure in the future that players from other states, whether it’s SA or the Allies or whatever the AFL decides on, will get their opportunities.”

So would Ricciuto want to see SA get an opportunity being back on the Origin stage?

Ricciuto says he “loves watching big games of footy” but “I’m also pretty focused on the Crows winning a flag”.

“I’ll reserve my judgement on what I see Saturday night,” he said.