The Origin stars who most impressed Cornes and King

AFL Origin was a showcase of the best that Victoria and WA have to offer, and some stood tall amongst the stars.

With 50 of the competition's most talented players, performing to the highest level is no short task.

However, five of WA's shining stars put on a performance that Kane Cornes and David King deemed impressive, enough to make significant note of their efforts within the first display of football of the 2026 campaign.

Kysaiah Pickett (Melbourne/WA)

“I’m big on the players that prepare themselves in the off-season,” Cornes told SEN Breakfast.

“I thought there was some great examples of players who looked really sharp.

“I thought Kozzie Pickett looked sharp.”

David King chimed in: “I told you, he’s breaking into the top five to 10 in the competition.”

Cornes continued: “He has touched that level, but hasn’t done it consistently.

“I thought he was running hard.”

Luke Jackson (Fremantle/WA)

“I thought Luke Jackson looked sharp. He didn’t quite get Lachie Ash on a chase but he dug in and gave it everything he had.

“He had a bit of midfield time, pushed forward and took a couple of strong marks.”

Jake Waterman (West Coast/WA)

“I thought Waterman was the story out of the game. All-Australian the previous year, then injured and had a horrible run.

“He presented, he was a target, he was taking contested marks.”

Charlie Cameron (Brisbane/WA)

“Charlie Cameron looked back. He was loving it out there.

“I just thought there were some players who have prepared themselves beautifully and have set themselves up to have a huge year.

“The usual suspects Butters, Daicos and Bont were all enormous. But I thought you could really tell those that have had a big pre-season and looked really good.”

Lawson Humphries (Geelong/WA)

King: “The find for me was Lawson Humphries.

“To step in after 36 games, he looked unreal. When they were out of tickets late he was the one that was running. He got them back in it.”