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<\/p>\nWhile Ugle-Hagan\u2019s ability to resurrect his stuttered career will play out over the coming months, Lobb said he was now focused on squaring the ledger against Darcy in next year\u2019s Origin return.<\/p>\n
\u201c[WA defender] Sam Taylor might want to have a go on him, but maybe I\u2019ll play on him and try taking him out of the game,\u201d Lobb said of the prospect of matching up against Darcy.<\/p>\n
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Former Docker Rory Lobb will renew a rivalry with now Bulldog teammate Sam Darcy in State Of Origin. Credit: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a couple of good battles out here already this pre-season, but last pre-season he got me, so I kind of owe him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDarc is a hard one to play on because you don\u2019t know whether to sit in front because he\u2019s so good on the lead, he\u2019s got long arms, or play him from behind and try to only give him the lead up. A win is just nullifying every contest, I reckon. It doesn\u2019t matter if I touch the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Lobb was happy to support the revival of the State of Origin concept.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been starved of it for so long, and we\u2019ve been talking about it as players with the PA (AFL Players\u2019 Association) for a long time now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSam and I get pretty competitive out here, and, you know, we don\u2019t like losing, so I\u2019m sure that we\u2019ll be cracking in as hard as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m out there to win the game. I don\u2019t want to get beaten up on live television, so I\u2019ll be going hard as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richards said he did not expect players to be worried about injuries during the pre-season clash at Perth Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always the risk of injury anytime you step on the field,\u201d the 2025 Charlie Sutton Medallist said.<\/p>\n
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Ed Richards is looking for to re-uniting with former schoolmates Matt Rowell, left, and Noah Anderson.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess people would be upset, probably from a supporter\u2019s point of view, if you were to be injured in this game, but some things are just meant to be, aren\u2019t they, so I\u2019m not too worried about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richards said he was looking forward to lining up alongside former Carey Grammar teammates Noah Anderson and Matt Rowell.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI played school footy with Rowley and Ando,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen they were in year 10, I was in Year 12.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were probably better than me at that stage, but it\u2019d be nice to play with them again. There\u2019s a bit of history there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richards said the Bulldogs had been working on elements of their defence since returning to pre-season training.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that our attack and our offence is seriously potent, so it\u2019s something that teams have got to focus on week in week out to try and stop us offensively,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019ve got to just be better on defence all over the ground. We\u2019re not helping our backs out at all.<\/p>\n
State of Origin squads to date<\/p>\n
WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Liam Baker, Tom Barrass, Shai Bolton, Charlie Cameron, Darcy Cameron, Jordan Clark, Patrick Cripps, Bradley Hill, Jesse Hogan, Luke Jackson, Aaron Naughton, Kysaiah Pickett, Sam Taylor, Chad Warner, Callum Ah Chee, Mitch Georgiades, Lawson Humphries, Rory Lobb, Wil Powell, Trent Rivers, Brandon Starcevich.\u00a0<\/p>\n
VICTORIA: Noah Anderson, Zak Butters, Marcus Bontempelli, Jeremy Cameron, Nick Daicos, Sam Darcy, Max Gawn, Toby Greene, Max Holmes, Hugh McCluggage, Matt Rowell, Jack Sinclair, Tom Stewart, Jacob Weitering. (More players to be announced)<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of our backs have been hung out to dry in the media. You know, people are saying our defence is sub-par, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s like that. I think it\u2019s more our defence as a whole – all 18 on the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe we can get the ball back in our hands more often than not with some of our defensive stuff, and then we\u2019ll be able to beat anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n