AFL chief Andrew Dillon has flagged the possible return of State of Origin matches next year after the success of last week’s Indigenous All Stars game.
The league is keen to continue staging games for the Indigenous All Stars, possibly biennially, with representative football to take place every other year.
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon.Credit: Joe Armao
The push comes amid what the league believes is a growing appetite among players and clubs for the return of State of Origin. The match, if given the green light, would likely take place in mid-February, a traditionally quiet month on Australia’s sports calendar.
“I can’t rule it in, I can’t rule it out,” Dillon said on Wednesday. “It will certainly be a conversation I’d like to have with the players and the clubs.
“I think there seems to be a bit of a groundswell for it. Finding the right time for it is important. Maybe the weekend we had last is sitting there. People are keen for footy.”
State of Origin was last played regularly in 1999, though the Big V was pulled out of mothballs in 2008 for a hall of fame tribute match, and again in February 2020 to raise funds for bushfire victims. Both matches were against an All Stars team made up of players from outside Victoria.
The league’s Indigenous players relished the rare chance to represent their people in the game against Fremantle last weekend, attended by a strong crowd of 37,865. Their keenness to play the match was in contrast to the waning enthusiasm among players in the 1990s to play for their state.
“The best bit for us was the way the clubs and the players embraced it,” Dillon said. “That led to the fans and the people viewing it. I thought the footy was really good too.
“The question for us now is how often do you play it? Where does rep footy fit in? I think the weekend showed that it is a good weekend for rep footy, how that plays out into the future will be discussed with the clubs and players in the next weeks and months.
“We’re absolutely committed to Indigenous All Stars, whether that’s every year or every couple of years, I think that’s the bit we’ve got to work through.
Members of the Victorian State of Origin team in 1990.Credit: The Age
“In the other years I think that’s where you look at other types of representative football. Whether it’s forms of State of Origin or All Stars, they’re the things we need to discuss.”
Wednesday was not the first time Dillon has raised the prospect of reviving state football since he became the league’s chief executiove officer.
“I’d love to see the best of the best playing in the men’s and women’s competition. How that plays itself out is a conversation [worth having],” Dillon said last June, days after 90,084 watched game two of the NRL’s State of Origin at the MCG.
“I’d love to get the feedback from our players and from our clubs. It is something that I would really like to investigate.”
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