![\"Zak](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2ec99296a799bf5ca82817f20345ead0ffed5e4b.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to playing some footy this year, and obviously it started today (with Victoria), but looking forward to getting back to club land and playing with my teammates and hopefully getting a few wins.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danger delivers Weitering news<\/p>\n
Patrick Dangerfield has good news for Carlton fans.<\/p>\n
The Cats superstar says Jacob Weitering has been cleared of any damage after he was taken to hospital following a heavy collision in Saturday night\u2019s clash.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good to see the big fella has been cleared,\u201d Dangerfield said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThat\u2019s a part of footy, unfortunately, it is the combative nature that we love.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s great to see he\u2019s been cleared of any damage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weitering was taken from the ground on a stretcher after Western Australian opponent Mitch Georgiades and teammate Sam Collins landed heavily on top of him during a marking contest.<\/p>\n
He had scans on his chest and shoulder regions, but was cleared to fly back to Melbourne with the Victorian team on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was engaged with the WhatsApp group (last night), that\u2019s for sure,\u201d Dangerfield said. \u201cThat lit up last night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dangerfield said the way Western Australians embraced the State Of Origin return meant the concept \u201cmight be around for a while\u201d, despite the prospect of injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to see injuries next week, unfortunately, as well, especially in the early parts of match simulation and practice when you are really getting used to full-on contact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou train it at this time of year, but you don\u2019t fully engage with high-speed collisions.<\/p>\n
So it is one of those things that it is a difficult game to predict, and it\u2019ll continue to be that way, I think, as long as we play it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toby and Zak make a pact<\/p>\n
Greater Western Sydney antagonist Toby Greene and Butters made a pre-game pact to set an aggressive tone during Saturday night\u2019s clash against Western Australia at Perth Stadium in Perth.<\/p>\n
Which should come as a surprise to no one.<\/p>\n
The feisty Butters found himself in a scrap with WA defender Tom Barrass when the home team were making a late charge to win back the lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he got Toby a bit late, and I was just backing him up,\u201d Butters explained. \u201cI think it\u2019s in the Origin spirit. The game was pretty close at that point, so I really wanted to get the win.<\/p>\n
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Zak Butters and Tom Barrass get up close and personal.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spoke about it a little bit pre-game. We\u2019re both starting half-forward, so we said, we would try and set the tone in that area. I\u2019ve looked up to him (Greene) for a while now, obviously growing up as a kid. I really admire the way he plays, so it\u2019s good to do it with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Butters agreed that he and Greene liked to play on the edge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I naturally do,\u201d he said. \u201cIt comes down a little bit to it sometimes, but I feel like we\u2019ve all created some good relations over the weekend. It helps me get involved in the game a little bit as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
No wonder Port are so desperate to keep their heart-and-soul vice-captain.<\/p>\n
Max makes room for more trophies<\/p>\n
Decorated ruckman Max Gawn has formed a love affair with Perth Stadium.<\/p>\n
He lifted the premiership cup at the ground as Melbourne captain in 2021, during the COVID-19 years, and can now add a victorious Victorian debut at the venue to his glowing resume.<\/p>\n
![\"Max](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/fe41e00fe47689aa2c834d29f25cfb2031c19fa5.jpeg\")
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Max Gawn (right) and his former Melbourne teammate Luke Jackson, now with Fremantle, after the game.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n
After the game, the 34-year-old veteran made mention of two Melbourne greats connected to both historic wins \u2013 Victorian selector and chief motivator Garry Lyon, and the inspiration of Neale Daniher in the lead-up to the club\u2019s drought-breaking premiership.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve won silverware twice in this room,\u201d he said. \u201cI do like the Freo Dockers\u2019 room.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, any sort of emotional tie you can make in football, I think it is something that you can play on, you can use as a motivational tool.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, yeah, we\u2019ve used Neil Daniher at times. We\u2019ve used lots of different things at times. And today, we used that Origin history.<\/p>\n
Gawn said Lyon embraced the \u201cMr Origin\u201d role.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been good, Garry,\u201d he said. \u201cHis job was to really fire us up. I mean, Chris Scott, what I\u2019ve seen from Chris Scott, and the thing I\u2019ve taken the most out of this, is seeing what people that you have a view on are actually like.<\/p>\n
![\"Victorian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1be6617e2bcef9dff2ad9e9bc501d02bfe8b29c4.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Victorian coach Chris Scott with his Geelong\/Victorian players, Patrick Dangerfield, Max Holmes, Tom Stewart and Bailey Smith.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Chris Scott\u2019s one of them, for mine. I think the balance of Chris Scott and Gary Lyon was unbelievable.<\/p>\n
Chris Scott was so method-based, and leaving the game up to some of the star players we had. And then Garry was like, nah boys, we got to put a hip and shoulder right into these [guys] in the first contest.<\/p>\n
We asked Gawn about his preconceived view of Scott.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI always thought he was cool, calm and collected. Sometimes I thought he was better than the game, but when you think about it, he\u2019s actually just putting so much to his players.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s given his players a lot of flexibility in the way they want to play. And I really gelled with it, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gawn was mic\u2019d up for the game and was looking forward to hearing his interaction with a star-studded midfield that included Marcus Bontempelli, Nick Daicos and Butters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe young players kept coming up and saying, \u2019it\u2019s a pleasure to play with you and Danger and Gunston and some of these guys, Bont, who have been around for a long time. But the pleasure is all ours,\u201d Gawn said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that we can play with some of these Gen Z boys that are turning football into a new game \u2026 I mean, I didn\u2019t have the normal input I normally have in games because the game was chaotic, the game was weird, the game was Origin, which was fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Suns pair reunited<\/p>\n
Gold Coast recruit Christian Petracca has well and truly embedded himself within the Suns playing group, according new teammate Sam Collins.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually went school with Trac,\u201d Collins said after his State Of Origin debut for Victoria.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I knew the character that was coming across, and he\u2019s been sensational for all the boys.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore, to say, his energy and connection that he brings to the group. You know, he\u2019s opened his house up a number of times.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s always looking to do things and bring the energy \u2026 so he\u2019s been sensational.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Collins, who was taken at No.55 in the 2015 national draft by Fremantle before joining the Suns in 2019, has also been impressed by former Western Bulldog Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.<\/p>\n
\u201cJamarra has just been working his ass off to give himself a fair chance to play and, most importantly, impact our team. So [I\u2019m] looking forward to seeing what he can bring,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n