New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nBut just having footy back is a win. Let alone getting to see the game\u2019s top stars collide while representing their states for the first time in a tune up for the season proper. <\/p>\n
While many have questioned if the players will take it seriously, all the language out of either camp suggests it\u2019s going to be on. <\/p>\n
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?<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Victoria captain Marcus Bontempelli and WA skipper Patrick Cripps Photo by James Wiltshire\/AFL Photos)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
GREAT\u2019S HIGHS AND LOWS<\/p>\n
Ricciuto has experienced the highs and lows of Origin. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Riccuto described it as an \u201camazing experience\u201d that \u201cmeant everything to everyone\u201d and was \u201cone of the best games, if not the best game, I played in.\u201d<\/p>\n
So much so that it felt like a grand final. <\/p>\n
\u201cFooty park was chock-a-block. I was nearly late to the game and remember thinking I\u2019d be lucky to get there. There was a traffic jam getting there, because people were getting there that early,\u201d Ricciuto recalled foxfooty.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust an amazing experience, it was really tough and hard. It was played like it was a grand final.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several years late, however, the format had an adverse effect on Ricciuto.<\/p>\n
He went into the 1997 Origin game with a \u201csore groin\u201d and \u201cprobably shouldn\u2019t have played \u2014 but did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark Ricciuto running out for South Australia in an Origin matchSource: News Limited<\/p>\n
The consequences? Missing out on a premiership.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy groin just got worse and worse,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cI missed the second-last game of the year, played the last game but couldn\u2019t move. Then I ended up missing all the finals and a premiership.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously that was the toughest thing I\u2019d had to experience in football.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next year when it came around to State of Origin, I said: \u2018Nah, I\u2019m giving it a miss, I\u2019m having a week off, I\u2019m resting up\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a rest and had a great second half of the year and played in a premiership. It was my only premiership.\u201d<\/p>\n
SHIFT AWAY FROM ORIGIN IN LATE \u201890s… NOW CAN THIS REVIVE IT? <\/p>\n
Ricciuto noted \u201cthings changed pretty quickly\u201d in the mid-90s in a shift that saw Origin become deprioritised and \u201crun and done\u201d by 1999. <\/p>\n
Club footy is everything now. Perhaps that\u2019s the way it should be.<\/p>\n
The NBA has a similar problem with the way it\u2019s All-Star game has become a you-know-what take.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a complete contrast from rugby league\u2019s State of Origin, which is life and death and sees NRL teams lose key stars during the premiership season.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re miles away from that or even potentially having it during a mid-season bye.<\/p>\n
Vics prepared for heated contest with WA | 02:15<\/p>\n
As such, Ricciuto struggles to see how it can get back to its great heights of yesteryear. If not, he\u2019s unsure on where, or if, it fits in the AFL calendar. <\/p>\n
\u201cI love the rugby league State of Origin and in some ways I\u2019m a bit jealous of it. I wonder how we can do it well in AFL football and I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s an answer for it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIs 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?<\/p>\n
\u201cState of Origin football should be thought of as grand final day. That\u2019s what it was at its peak. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you ask people from yesteryear what it meant to them at its prime, it was the be all and end all.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d be as happy as anyone if we found a way to get it back to being what it was in the \u201890s and early \u201890s, but footy has just changed so much.<\/p>\n
\u201cState of Origin needs to be 100 per cent to do it justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Western Bulldogs champion Johnson, who represented Victoria in three Origin games, has faith in the format\u2019s revival.<\/p>\n
Johnson hopes it can \u201cget back to being valued the way it used to be\u201d and thinks \u201cthis is an excellent starting point.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while some have questioned holding the game in February, Johnson said it\u2019s the ideal ramp up for the AFL season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re going to set their teams up to play strong football, because it\u2019s 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,\u201d he told foxfooty.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a player, you\u2019re in a real serious mindset about wanting to perform and get plenty of good touches of the footy and commit to a few contests.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
HOW REAL ARE THE INJURY CONCERNS? <\/p>\n
It\u2019s the elephant in the room. <\/p>\n
In an AFL pre-season that\u2019s been marred by injuries across club land, we\u2019re now going to send out the game\u2019s biggest stars and expect them to go hammer and tong in a glorified exhibition game. <\/p>\n
Throw in that Saturday\u2019s weather forecast in Perth is 35 degrees and the injury risk is real. <\/p>\n
Take Collingwood, for example.<\/p>\n
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? <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
AFL Origin hype taking over Perth | 01:09<\/p>\n
\u201cI think every coach and administrator at football clubs will be closing their eyes and crossing their fingers. But that\u2019s probably always been the case, even coaches in the mid \u201890s would\u2019ve been like that,\u201d Ricciuto said. <\/p>\n
Johnson highlighted there\u2019s a risk of injury in any pre-season game and he thinks there shouldn\u2019t be an over-reaction if a player suffers a setback on Saturday. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone gets injured in this game, that can\u2019t be the reason for the future of this game to be on a knife\u2019s edge again,\u201d the six-time All-Australian said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s on. The players have committed to it, as they would commit to their own internal practice game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
SO HOW WILL IT BE DEFINED A SUCCESS?<\/p>\n
You can look at this in a few different ways. <\/p>\n
Is it sheer ratings and eyeballs? <\/p>\n
A big biffo or a controversial moment otherwise that fires people up and gets people talking?<\/p>\n
A breakout performance like Brent Harvey\u2019s infamous five-goal haul as a 21-year old in the 1999 game?<\/p>\n
All of the above would be ideal! <\/p>\n
Victorian trio Bailey Smith, Nick Daicos and Toby GreeneSource: News Corp AustraliaChad Warner fends off Bradley Hill (Picture: Michael Klein)Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
For Ricciuto, a clean run on the injury front and buy-in from the players should be the goal. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo injuries, for starters. Probably players going as close to 100 per cent as possible,\u201d the Brownlow medallist said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think they\u2019ll get the eyeballs on it and I think they\u2019ll probably get a full house over there. So there will be a lot of people watching it, because they\u2019re starved of sport and people love footy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope the players have a crack.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson has bigger ideas. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s 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,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately I\u2019m rapt we\u2019re starting again. This gives us a really good opportunity to celebrate the best players from Vic and WA. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure in the future that players from other states, whether it\u2019s SA or the Allies or whatever the AFL decides on, will get their opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
So would Ricciuto want to see SA get an opportunity being back on the Origin stage? <\/p>\n
Ricciuto says he \u201cloves watching big games of footy\u201d but \u201cI\u2019m also pretty focused on the Crows winning a flag\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll reserve my judgement on what I see Saturday night,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"State of Origin is back! Now can it be here to stay? Footy will return to TV screens…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,5490,64,63,689,55,13032,639,684,7488,188554,3534,156828,241952,242362,10133,10143,49773,10989,242359,50007,3490,242360,242364,14870,11288,49317,241776,49772,165074,17351,33693,12141,10132,242368,31708,647,590,677,242363,7800,242370,84840,46,149178,45702,242367,13214,242366,159,242361,242369,1124,85,127055,7663,19086,109666,242365,660,242358,3439,698],"class_list":["post-475794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-amazing-experience","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australian-football-league-house","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-ben-cotton","tag-brad-johnson","tag-bradley-hill","tag-breakout-performance","tag-brent-harvey","tag-chad-warner-fends","tag-chris-grant","tag-collingwood-magpies","tag-craig-mcrae","tag-dan-mcstay","tag-darcy-moore","tag-fires-people","tag-football-clubs","tag-footy-fans","tag-footy-park","tag-game-times","tag-glorified-exhibition-game","tag-grand-final","tag-grand-final-day","tag-heated-contest","tag-injury-concerns","tag-injury-risks","tag-jake-waterman","tag-james-wiltshire","tag-jeremy-cameron","tag-jeremy-howe","tag-johnson-hopes","tag-mark-ricciuto","tag-melbourne","tag-nba","tag-oceania","tag-origin-stars","tag-patrick-cripps","tag-people-love-footy","tag-people-watching","tag-perth","tag-practice-game","tag-premiership-season","tag-return-works","tag-right-time","tag-rohan-smith","tag-rugby-league","tag-showpiece-game","tag-skipper-patrick","tag-south-australia","tag-sports","tag-starting-point","tag-talking-points","tag-toby-greene","tag-traffic-jam","tag-trio-bailey-smith","tag-victoria","tag-victorian-trio-bailey","tag-western-australia","tag-western-bulldogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475794","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=475794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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