Brisbane Lions star Will Ashcroft says he\u2019s \u201cpretty pissed\u201d he was ruled ineligible to play in the 2026 State of Origin match following a selection backflip.<\/p>\n
The dual Norm Smith medallist, who was born in Queensland but relocated to Victoria when he was 14, was set to qualify to play for the Big V, given he was drafted out of St Kilda City and captained both Sandringham Dragons and Vic Metro in his draft year.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s in line with the AFL\u2019s selection criteria that a player\u2019s Origin eligibility is determined by the state of the junior club they were drafted \u2014 not the state they were born in.<\/p>\n
However Ashcroft and the Lions were told that the 21-year old would in fact not be available to play for Victoria in the February exhibition match against Western Australia.<\/p>\n
Ashcroft\u2019s snub comes despite Kysaiah Pickett, who was raised in both WA and South Australia but was drafted out of Woodville West Torrens, being granted special permission to play in the Origin game.<\/p>\n
And Ashcroft didn\u2019t hide his feelings towards missing out on selection when asked about the matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like to think of myself (as a Victorian). I\u2019ve played here since I was 14, I was part of a lot of Victorian teams all the way through and then was drafted out of the Sandy Dragons and St Kilda City,\u201d he told Code Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cApparently, they\u2019ve decided now that I\u2019m not eligible, so I\u2019m not playing, unfortunately.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m pretty pissed about it, but I think there\u2019s been some changes to the criteria.<\/p>\n \u201cI would have loved to play for Victoria, but unfortunately, it isn\u2019t happening.\u201d<\/p>\n Ashcroft is coming off a second-straight Norm Smith Medal performance in the Lions\u2019 back-to-back premiership triumph.<\/p>\n The young gun already has a glowing resume from his 58 AFL games since joining Brisbane with the No. 2 pick in the 2022 National Draft as a father-son selection.<\/p>\n While Ashcroft won\u2019t feature, teammate Hugh McCluggage will represent Victoria and ex-Lions Callum Ah Chee and Brandon Starcevich will team up with Charlie Cameron again for WA.<\/p>\n Originally published as \u2018Pissed\u2019: Will Ashcroft left fuming over State of Origin snub after Dees star cleared<\/a><\/p>\n