If State of Origin's not for sheep stations, count me out
If the current crop of AFL players continues to push for the return of State of Origin footy and the AFL complies, we need to get a couple of things straight.
State of Origin footy is not, was not and should never be our own version of the NBA's All-Star weekend. Footy is a unique sport in so many ways, but something I've observed over a long period of time is that it only works if it feels like the most important thing in the world.
Is that delusion? Yes, it is. A big part of footy is fully embracing and over-inflating its actual importance. Over 18 years at the Bulldogs, I would run out onto the field with the belief that this looming game was as important as any of the Apollo mission launches out of Houston.
'We're playing for sheep stations,' is how it used to be put. Footy, unlike basketball, tennis or cricket, doesn't really work when it's not played full throttle. If you want to draw a crowd, the secret ingredient or, rather, the only ingredient required is a commitment to competition itself.
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As a young lad growing up in Gippsland, State of Origin footy was intoxicating. The best league footballers were crowned, acknowledged and then pitted against one another, mid-week!
I have a strong memory of leaping off the school bus and racing home to grab my tattered footy and kick it high up into the power lines in the front of my house.
I counted down the minutes before 'the Big V' took on the might of South Australia. My imagination was exploding in multiple directions, the possibilities were endless, yet the game delivered on my expectations.
I'm 43 now, so I doubt that this generation of AFL players would have that first-hand experience of what state representative football looked and felt like. It was competitive. It meant something. Similarly, the NBA All-Star weekend used to mean something. I would argue that it doesn't mean much now.
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