{"id":479150,"date":"2026-02-14T08:57:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T08:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/479150\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T08:57:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T08:57:22","slug":"afl-origin-fans-pack-optus-stadium-in-huge-show-of-support-for-origin-return-as-wa-face-victoria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/479150\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL Origin: Fans pack Optus Stadium in huge show of support for Origin return as WA face Victoria"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rusted-on West Australian footy fans from the golden age of State v State footy, Eagles and Dockers fans arm in arm, travelling Victorians and thousands of kids donning black swan jumpers.<\/p>\n

They all packed in to Optus Stadium for the historic return of State of Origin, almost three decades in the making.<\/p>\n

\"ArcherCamera IconArcher (16) and Ajay Challis (13). Credit: Ross Swanborough\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

The stadium concourse was already heaving hours before the start of the game, despite 35C conditions mid-afternoon in Perth.<\/p>\n

It included a remarkable number of punters in WA\u2019s iconic footy jumper \u2014 the gold kit with the famous State emblem.<\/p>\n

\"OlliverCamera IconOlliver and Danae Skeggs. Credit: Ross Swanborough\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

Fans inside the ground raced to chase autographs as players competed their warm-ups as families \u2014 and past players \u2014 shared stories of their own Origin experiences.<\/p>\n

\"ShanaeCamera IconShanae Gibaud. Credit: Ross Swanborough\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

Young West Coast fans Nick and Jack Reid \u2014 both 17 \u2014 were sporting new WA jumpers, alongside their cousin and Victorian supporter Lucas Barry.<\/p>\n

They said they were most looking forward to watching WA skipper Patrick Cripps.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m bloody stoked. It\u2019s going to be good,\u201d Nick said.<\/p>\n

\"DanielCamera IconDaniel Mackay. Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

Lucas said he was up for the banter coming his way inside the stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m used to it,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

\"JackCamera IconJack Reid, Lucas Barry and Nicholas Reid. Credit: Ross Swanborough\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

Victorian fan Cameron Moneslski was feeling the love. He flew his family over from Melbourne to join his mate Justin Spurling at the game in what he described as a con on his wife.<\/p>\n

\u201cMyself and my wife and my kids have come over from Cranbourne in Melbourne,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I saw it was Valentine\u2019s Day, I conned the missus. I texted her and said \u2018do you want to go to Perth for Valentine\u2019s Day?\u2019 and she fell hook, line and sinker for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FootyCamera IconFooty fans with The West Australian\u2019s poster. Credit: Matt Jelonek\/AFL Photos\/via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Mr Monelski was at the most recent State of Origin game, between Victoria and South Australia at the MCG in 1999.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have been 19, it was grouse. It pelted down with rain and we beat South Australia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"TheCamera IconThe scene outside Optus. Credit: Ross Swanborough\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s great. I\u2019m surprised it\u2019s back, but I think if there\u2019s no injuries today it might stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Victoria will win quite easily and I think most West Australians would agree.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rusted-on West Australian footy fans from the golden age of State v State footy, Eagles and Dockers fans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,49082,64,63,55,639,588,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-479150","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-afl-state-of-origin","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-australian-football-league","13":"tag-australianfootballleague","14":"tag-sport","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479150","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=479150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}