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Posted: 2024-06-24 19:49:17

On a mild spring day in 1977, two teams of professional athletes played the first recorded game of State of Origin football.

However, it wasn't between the Maroons or Blues, and the game played wasn't even rugby league.

Western Australia hosted a Victorian representative side at Subiaco Oval in 1977, giving Australian Rules Football the unique and oft-forgotten bragging right of creating State of Origin footy.

The game burgeoned in popularity throughout the 80s and early 90s.

Back then, it was everything in Aussie rules football.

"To play for Victoria in that era was undoubtedly one of the greatest achievements," AFL premiership coach Paul Roos said.

"It was the pinnacle of the game, apart from the grand final."

Craig Bradley moves the ball forward for South Australia.

South Australia and Victoria clashed in some close and heated contests in the State of Origin.(Port Adelaide Football Club.)

The AFL hosted its last official State Of Origin match 25 years ago as interest declined and the league pivoted towards being a national competition.

In the decades since, the NRL has made the format well and truly its own.

So much so that Game II of the men's series between NSW and Queensland will be held at the MCG this week in front of a crowd that's likely to be bigger than any AFL match this weekend.

Despite being a former Victorian captain in Origin and an ardent fan, Paul Roos doesn't think the series should return to AFL calendars.

"We don't need it now," Roos told ABC AFL Daily.

"We have State of Origin every week: Adelaide Crows and Port Power, West Coast Eagles against Fremantle Dockers, so we get it every week — a couple of times a weekend."

Bring it back

The first State of Origin match in 1977 between Victoria and Western Australia was a rollercoaster.

A VFL representative side smashed WA by 63 points in June that year, however, the inclusion of a number of West Australian players in the VFL side rankled some pundits.

Three months later, Western Australia recorded a 94-point victory over Victoria — a turnaround of some 157 points, after some prominent "sandgropers" were given the chance to represent their state — not league — of origin.

It was this clash between states, understood to be the brainchild of Subiaco's Leon Larkin, that brought State Of Origin sport to Australia.

The format will always have its backers.

Every year when rugby league's State of Origin carnival rolls around, Australian rules pundits are quick to point out the format actually originated in the Aussie Rules.

Melbourne's Hall of Fame midfielder Gary Lyon told Melbourne radio it was an "unmitigated disgrace" the State of Origin format had vanished from the AFL calendar.

A team photo from the 1996 Victorian State of Origin side

Gary Lyon (seated) was part of Victoria's 1995 State of Origin side that also included Gary Ablett Sr, Jim Stynes and Robert Harvey.(Getty Images)

Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire told Channel Nine he adored the series — with one small caveat.

"I loved it until I became president and you panic about players getting hurt," Maguire qualified.

"Do it before the season starts, once every three years, and do it as a carnival in, say, Tasmania, to continue that flavour."

Rodney Eade also captained his state in his playing days and loved every second of it.

A split image with an AFL player wearing a Big V, a coach in shirt and tie and a player wearing red, yellow and blue.

A composite photo of Victoria State of Origin player Garry Hocking, South Australian coach Graham Cornes and SA player Chris McDermott.(Getty Images)

But the proud Tasmanian's not convinced it could ever return.

"I can't see it ever happening," Eade said.

Eade said clubs were unlikely to risk injuring their star players — even in a pre- or post-season format.

"Maybe they'll have a one-off [game] here or there because it's a fillip for players to be able to represent their state and have a state jumper.

"I think it'd be good in concept but how it comes about? Not too sure."

Would the players support it?

Perhaps one of the league's most enduring memories occurred before a ball was even bounced.

The vision of EJ Whitten waving to the MCG crowd from the back of a convertible before a State of Origin match in 1995, tenderly resting his head against his son's face as the pair bathed in the crowd's adoration, is seared into the hearts of football lovers at the time.

Whitten Sr would die of prostate cancer just two months later.

An emotional man in a suit and tie with a 'V' on it stands in a car with fists clenched as he does a farewell lap of the MCG.

EJ "Ted" Whitten acknowledges the crowd at his farewell parade before the State of Origin match between Victoria and South Australia at the MCG in 1995.(Getty Images)

According to the record books, the last official State of Origin series match was played in May 1999.

Victoria belted South Australia by 54 points in front of just over 26,000 people at the MCG.

No match was scheduled the following year, which had a shorter season than normal due to the Sydney Olympics.

One-off State of Origin matches have been held since, the most recent in 2020 to help raise money for the Black Summer bushfire victims.

Nat Fyfe and Trent Cotchin smile while holding a big silver trophy between them.

Trent Cotchin (right) and Nat Fyfe were selected as the respective captains for Victoria and All-Stars AFL State of Origin match in 2020.(AAP: Scott Barbour)

The AFL Players Association has long backed calls for a series resumption.

"While a return of State of Origin seems unlikely in the current climate, given schedule commitments and structure of the AFL season, the AFLPA remains open to a discussion with the players, AFL and clubs about this," a spokesperson said.

"The AFLPA and AFL players have a long history of expressing support for a return of State of Origin."

The AFL did not respond to requests for comment.

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