THE ULTIMATE guide brings you everything you need to know ahead of the 2026 AAMI AFL Origin game between Western Australia and Victoria.<\/p>\n
When is it?<\/p>\n
State-based rivalries resume for the first time in nearly 25 years when\u00a0Western Australia takes on Victoria\u00a0at Optus Stadium in Perth on Saturday, February 14.<\/p>\n
Featuring some of the best players in the competition, the match will start at 4.40pm local time (7.40pm AEDT).<\/p>\n
Sam Darcy of Victoria poses in front of the EJ Whitten Statue during the State of Origin Media Opportunity at Whitten Oval on December 11, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Josh Chadwick\/AFL Photos)<\/p>\n
How to watch?<\/p>\n
The 2026 AAMI AFL Origin game will be broadcast on Channel 7 and Fox Sports, as well as 7Plus and Kayo streaming platforms.<\/p>\n
How to attend<\/p>\n
Tickets to the blockbuster clash have already sold out, with excitement for state representative footy at an all-time high as fans prepare to pack Optus Stadium for the game.<\/p>\n
Should any more tickets become available, they will be released via Ticketmaster and communicated via AFL channels.<\/p>\n
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said the sell-out demonstrates the passion fans hold for one of football’s most iconic traditions.<\/p>\n
“Origin is one of the great traditions of our game, and this sell-out showcases how Origin inspires state pride and how deeply it resonates amongst players and fans alike,” he said.<\/p>\n
Who is playing?<\/p>\n
Some of the biggest names in the game will take the field, with the likes of Western Bulldogs superstar Marcus Bontempelli, Collingwood gun Nick Daicos and Geelong spearhead Jeremy Cameron pulling on the Big V.<\/p>\n
Carlton skipper Patrick Cripps headlines WA’s side, with Sydney star Chad Warner and gun Giants defender Sam Taylor joining him.<\/p>\n
Check out the squads below, with more players to be announced in the lead up to the game.<\/p>\n
VICTORIA*
Lachie Ash
Noah Anderson
Josh Battle
Marcus Bontempelli
Zak Butters
Jeremy Cameron
Nick Daicos
Patrick Dangerfield
Sam Darcy
Max Gawn
Toby Greene
Blake Hardwick
Max Holmes
Hugh McCluggage
Zach Merrett
Ed Richards
Matt Rowell
Caleb Serong
Jack Sinclair
Tom Stewart
Jacob Weitering<\/p>\n
WESTERN AUSTRALIA*
Callum Ah Chee
Liam Baker
Tom Barrass
Shai Bolton
Charlie Cameron
Darcy Cameron
Jordan Clark
Patrick Cripps
Mitch Georgiades
Bradley Hill
Jesse Hogan
Lawson Humphries
Luke Jackson
Rory Lobb
Aaron Naughton
Kysaiah Pickett
Wil Powell
Trent Rivers
Brandon Starcevich
Sam Taylor
Chad Warner<\/p>\n
*more to be announced<\/p>\n
Who is coaching?<\/p>\n
Two-time Geelong premiership mentor Chris Scott will lead Victoria, while current Sydney coach Dean Cox will be Western Australia’s leader.<\/p>\n
While Scott spent his entire playing career in Brisbane, he was born and raised in Victoria and has been at the helm of the Cats since 2011.<\/p>\n
One of WA’s greatest ever players, Cox earned six All-Australian blazers as well as a premiership across his 290 games at West Coast, while he also played against Victoria for the Dream Team in the 2008 Hall of Fame game.<\/p>\n
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir and Adelaide assistant Nathan van Berlo will also be in Cox’s coaching group as assistants, while Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell and Gold Coast assistant Shaun Grigg will support Scott with the Vics.<\/p>\n
The guernseys<\/p>\n
The Big V and Sandgroper jumpers return for the first time in a long time for AFL Origin.<\/p>\n
WA’s guernsey features the traditional black swan on a gold jumper, while Victoria’s guernsey has the iconic white ‘V’ on a navy blue base.<\/p>\n
Aaron Naughton – Western Australia, poses during the State of Origin portrait session at AFL House on December 11, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by James Wiltshire\/AFL Photos)<\/p>\n
The history of AFL Origin<\/p>\n
Origin was last played in 1999, when Victoria thrashed South Australia, while the ‘Big V’ also featured against composite sides in the 2008 Hall of Fame tribute match and 2020 bushfire relief match.<\/p>\n
WA and Victoria have not played each other since 1992.<\/p>\n
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said other states will have the opportunity to play Origin in future, but it made sense for WA to host Victoria in the re-launch, given they contested the inaugural fixture in 1977.<\/p>\n
What the game means<\/p>\n
Like other representative football, the return of Origin has long been discussed and with a small gap in the hectic pre-season schedule, the state-based rivalry returns.<\/p>\n
The mid-February time slot mirrors the game between the Indigenous All Stars and Fremantle last year, which drew a crowd of more than 37,000 to Optus Stadium.<\/p>\n
“It was earlier in (2025) when we had all the club captains, and I was lucky enough to sit next to Patrick Cripps and we talked about it,” AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said.<\/p>\n
“I could see how much it meant to him if that opportunity could happen.<\/p>\n
“Like the All Stars game … when the players buy in, the clubs buy in and then the fans buy in. We’re really looking forward to it.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE ULTIMATE guide brings you everything you need to know ahead of the 2026 AAMI AFL Origin game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,83],"class_list":["post-451948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports","tag-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}