West Coast premiership player Karl Langdon has named his West Australian State of Origin side, if the game was to be played this year.
State of Origin has been a long-deceased format in the AFL landscape, but this time of year always tends to breathe some life into the topic.
Langdon named a strong WA side, featuring two club captains in Nathan Fyfe and Patrick Cripps, as well as superstars of the game Nic Naitnaui, Jeremy McGovern, Lance Franklin and Jack Darling.
See the team below:
FB: L. Baker / T. Barrass / B. Starcevich
HB: B. Sheppard / J. McGovern / D. Rich
C: J. O’Meara / P. Cripps / M. Duncan
HF: J. Cripps / J. Kennedy / S. Bolton
FF: A. Naughton / J. Darling / L. Ryan
Fol: N. Naitanui / N. Fyfe / D. Sheed
INT: O. Allen / L. Franklin / M. Walters / Q. Narkle / T. English / E. Yeo / R. Lobb / K. Pickett / S. Menegola
Former Fremantle star Paul Hasleby likes the team, but can’t see it taking down a Victorian equivalent.
“It’s not a bad side. It wouldn’t beat Victoria at the moment given their midfield division,” Hasleby told Sportsday WA.
“You’ve got Max Gawn, Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver, Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae, Patrick Dangerfield and those sorts of blokes up against you.
“The last time we played the State of Origin concept it was Victoria versus the rest and we couldn’t beat them with ‘the rest’.
“I know you’ve got your love for your state and the comradery and that certainly helps, but I just think Victoria are quite dominant.
“On any given night with those names you can cause an upset.”
Hasleby would love to see State of Origin return to the AFL and believes the league should get creative to bring it back.
“You’ve got to find the right time of the year. I think with everything that’s gone on with COVID the AFL gets a chance to restructure the season,” he said.
“Why do we always start at the same time? Why do we always finish at the same time? It’s just the way we’ve always done it.
“You could start earlier, you could have more gaps in the middle, more byes and allow time for State of Origin.
“Winner stays on. So, Victoria versus Western Australia. Winner then plays South Australia, winner of that then plays Queensland and New South Wales perhaps collectively.
“Pay the players so they want to play, whether it’s $40,000 or $50,000 to play. But then also pay the clubs. The clubs receive payments per player in the team that increases their soft cap.
“They’re all whinging about their soft cap aren’t they? Well what happens if you get an extra $50,000 per player able to play? That could open up room for a new staff member.
“You’ve got to try and compensate everyone.”
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