{"id":480433,"date":"2026-02-14T23:09:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T23:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/480433\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T23:09:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T23:09:16","slug":"selecting-afl-origin-teams-for-south-australia-and-the-allies-afl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/480433\/","title":{"rendered":"Selecting AFL Origin teams for South Australia and the Allies – AFL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

After AFL<\/a> Origin’s return between Victoria and Western Australia proved to be an immense success on Saturday, there is a sense of feeling that South Australia and the Allies have missed out on the fun.<\/p>\n

So, could we see SA or the Allies return soon for an Origin game?<\/p>\n

We go through what we believe their respective teams would look like if they were to have a squad play in a potential Origin match.<\/p>\n

South Australia<\/p>\n

FB: Charlie Ballard<\/a>, Brennan Cox<\/a>, Max Michalanney<\/a>
HB: Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera<\/a>, Callum Wilkie<\/a>, Connor Rozee<\/a>
C: Will Day<\/a>, Lachie Neale<\/a>, Jase Burgoyne<\/a>
HF: Will Hayward<\/a>, Riley Thilthorpe<\/a>, Jason Horne-Francis<\/a>
FF: Beau McCreery<\/a>, Darcy Fogarty<\/a>, Izak Rankine<\/a>
FO: Brodie Grundy<\/a>, Jordan Dawson<\/a>, George Hewett<\/a>
I\/C: John Noble<\/a>, Tom Powell<\/a>, Mattaes Phillipou<\/a>, Tyson Stengle<\/a>, Rory Laird<\/a><\/p>\n

The squad would be headlined by stars all over the field, including two-time Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To pair along with him, they have Crows captain Jordan Dawson<\/a>, Port captain Connor Rozee<\/a> and rising star Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera<\/a> running around the field, while Brodie Grundy<\/a> is hitting it down their throat.<\/p>\n

Their goal-kicking power does not disappoint with the Crows’ power duo of Riley Thilthorpe<\/a> and Darcy Fogarty<\/a>. Horne-Francis and Izak Rankine<\/a> are also two guns that can break open the game with their unreal talent.<\/p>\n

Their backline would also hold up against most, with All-Australian Callum Wilkie<\/a> leading the way. Gold Coast and Crows young guns Charlie Ballard<\/a> and Max Michalanney<\/a> can also hold up well defensively.<\/p>\n

The rest of the squad certainly doesn’t disappoint either, with some guns all over the field. Will Day<\/a>, Tyson Stengle<\/a>, Rory Laird<\/a>, John Noble<\/a>, and George Hewett<\/a> are all players who can impact the game in a huge way.<\/p>\n

Allies\u00a0<\/p>\n

FB: Nick Blakey<\/a>, Jack Buckley<\/a>, Dayne Zorko<\/a>
HB: Callum Mills<\/a>, Harris Andrews<\/a>, Jaspa Fletcher<\/a>
C: Colby McKercher<\/a>, Jacob Hopper<\/a>, Errol Gulden<\/a>
HF: Isaac Heeney<\/a>, Patrick Voss<\/a>, Zac Bailey<\/a>
FF: Lachlan Schultz<\/a>, Taylor Walker<\/a>, Ben Long<\/a>
FO: Jarrod Witts<\/a>, Will Ashcroft<\/a>, Tom Green<\/a>
I\/C: Keidean Coleman<\/a>, Alex Pearce<\/a>, Jack Payne<\/a>, Daniel Rioli<\/a>, Matthew Kennedy<\/a><\/p>\n

The Allies squad isn’t as deep as the South Australian squad, but it is still star-studded with many players.<\/p>\n

Headlining this squad is two-time Norm Smith medallist Will Ashcroft<\/a>. Their midfield is their deepest position with Giants star Tom Green<\/a> in the guts.\u00a0Then Sydney star Errol Gulden<\/a> is running along the wing with young gun Colby McKercher<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We can’t forget about Sydney star Isaac Heeney<\/a>, lined up in the forward line, as he could be their most damaging player. Zac Bailey<\/a> is playing alongside him in a similar role.<\/p>\n

To kick the goals, they have veteran Taylor Walker<\/a> in full forward with the electric Patrick Voss<\/a> lined up at half forward. Goal Sneaks Lachie Schultz and Ben Long<\/a> round out the forward line.<\/p>\n

Their defence could rank among the best, with premiership player and All-Australian Harris Andrews<\/a> holding down the fort. Fellow teammates Jaspa Fletcher<\/a> and Dayne Zorko<\/a> add important zip. While Jack Buckley<\/a>, Callum Mills<\/a> and Nick Blakey<\/a> add to the defence.<\/p>\n

Jarrod Witts<\/a> is a great ruckman for them, while they have important depth on the interchange with Alex Pearce<\/a>, Dan Rioli and more.<\/p>\n

Get set for the footy with the FREE Zero Hanger 2026 AFL Season Guide!<\/a> Packed with 150+ pages of player profiles, team previews, insights and analysis, the 2026 AFL Season Guide<\/a> is built for fans who want the full picture. Download your free Season Guide HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After AFL Origin’s return between Victoria and Western Australia proved to be an immense success on Saturday, there…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-480433","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"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480433","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=480433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}