Victoria Wins in Origin Return
Does the State of Origin work in the AFL?
On Saturday, the AFL aimed to answer just that, as the footy world descended on Perth for the first State of Origin contest in over a quarter of a century.
There seemed no better place to trial the concept than the state where it all began.
The original rivalry saw Victoria travel to face the West Australians nearly half a century after the Sandgropers got the job done by 94 points in the first ever game.
This time out it was Victoria by 24 points, 18.17 (125) to 15.11 (101).
Victoria was led by Nick Daicos, (38 disposals, seven clearances) Marcus Bontempelli, (30 disposals) and Lachie Ash, (25 disposals, 498 metres gained), while Western Australia had Patrick Cripps, (nine clearances), Bradley Hill, (26 disposals, 457 metres gained) and Jesse Hogan, (five goals) to rely on.
It all began in a similar style to the first game in 1977, when Kosi Pickett got things started nicely for the Sandgropers, the Melbourne superstar grabbed the football and got it inside forward 50 from the first centre bounce, before Chad Warner was given space at a forward 50 stoppage and kicked the first goal.
Hogan would add another before two minutes were eclipsed.
For Western Australia it was all about their explosive speed, with fast ball movement helping them generate inside 50, as well as winning the ball in the centre of the ground.
Victoria were willing to go slow and steady, which eventually led to their first goal through the late inclusion of Ben King, the Gold Coast forward at the end of a great team buildup.
One of the biggest free agents on the market in 2026 didn’t start his career defining season off in the best fashion, Zak Butters turned the ball over in the centre of the ground, and Charlie Cameron was off to the races, as Country Roads bellowed round the stadium.
Tempers flared before Butters responded and got the clearance to King, another goal added to his tally, as Victoria led the contest, just.
Victoria were getting on top around the clearances after trailing early, while they were getting more of the football, led by Nick Daicos, Ed Richards, and Lachie Ash, while Jaeger O’Meara flew the Western Australian flag early.
Jacob Weitering was taken out of the game late in the quarter, a contest on Victoria’s defensive 50 seeing him taken from the ground after Mitch Georgiades and Sam Collins landed on the All-Australian defender, the stretcher called as concerns were immediate for the Carlton player’s neck and shoulder.
After a lengthy delay, Zach Merrett gave Victoria their highest lead of 13 points, before Hugh McCluggage had a goal rubbed out after a score review, before he sent one home just two and a half minutes later.
Western Australia continued to scrap away, Cripps had six clearances, comfortable as he returned to football for 2026, before Jake Waterman lent back on the football and steered home a 50-metre drop punt.
Wil Powell was taken from the ground in the second, another whose head, and subsequently neck, took a whack in a contest, but would return and move into the middle in a positive for WA.
In the third quarter, Western Australia were desperate.
They’d conceded four of the last six goals to trail by 22 points at the main break, after having the margin at single figures twice in the second.
After the Sandgropers were twice let off by King and Max Holmes, the relentless Victorian pressure didn’t fade away, as Bailey Smith came through to kick a goal and drag the margin to five goals.
Marcus Bontempelli was finding his way into the game, while Butters and Daicos were causing all kinds of trouble.
Three goals to Western Australia cut the margin again, Waterman, Bolton, and Jackson all getting the home crowd back into song.
At 16 points, the game went to another level, the heat was beginning to affect the players, but Western Australia made their run.
Patrick Dangerfield may have accidentally provided the knockout blow as the margin got to 29 points.
Bolton had a chance, but missed the ball from 50, as Victoria continued to hold its lead into the last change.
Hogan started the quarter with a goal to return a faint pulse to the Sandgropers, but the need for goals was ever present for the home state.
Bolton found Hogan for the West Australians, and Hogan’s fourth had the crowd at fever pitch as the Big V had a big fear that it was going to be ripped away. The margin was 18 points.
It was Charlie Cameron who cut the margin to two goals, as momentum was with the home side.
Geelong’s young gun, Lawson Humphries found Jesse Hogan, his last quarter threatening to rip the game away from Victoria.
Greene and Anderson both fired blanks before Butters, Dangerfield and Daicos combined for the Cat to put visitors 14 points ahead.
From there, Victoria remained in control, Serong added another goal as his teammates around him missed. A feeling that would have been weird for the hometown based Fremantle fans in the crowd.
The Graham Voss Medal was won by Jesse Hogan, while the EJ Whitten Medal was won by Lachie Ash.
So did State of Origin, the AFL version, actually work?
A sell-out crowd, and the best players in the league scrapping for state pride.
That’s a massive tick for the AFL.
For Western Australia, footy fans out West finally had a marquee event, and they flocked to it.
It was successful wherever you looked.
Whether South Australia gets its turn remains to be seen. Eventually, the appetite for new matchups will grow, but those decisions rest with the AFL.
The underlying feeling in Perth, on Saturday night, Origin belonged.
West Aus: 3.1 8.4 11.6 15.11.101
Victoria: 6.3 11.8 15.11 18.17.125
Goalkickers:
West Aus:
Hogan 5, Cameron 3, Waterman 2, Jackson 2, Warner, Hill, Bolton
Victoria:
King 4, Merrett 2, McCluggage 2, Greene 2, Dangerfield 2, Xerri, Smith, Serong, Daicos, Butters, Bontempelli
Best, (alphabetical order):
West Aus:
Cripps, Hill, Hogan
Victoria:
Ash, Bontempelli, Daicos