Would W.A., be certainties to beat the BIG V in a theoretical state of origin match end of this year??

It'll never happen - but for the first time WA appears to have the edge in talent

Injury free - we have the two best KPD and two best KPF and arguably the best 3 midfielders

I'd also add the most damaging ruckman - but that could be bias
 
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We would win, it's true. Certainties is a bit strong though.

Part of it is to stir up a bit of a response etc...

But seriously, look at the backline, Stack, Rance, Naughton, Yeo, McGovern, Sheppard.

Its almost flawless.

A midfield of Cripps, Fyfe, Coniglio, Kelly on the bench, its virtually the complete package. When others mention some of the other players chinks seem apparent.

The have some guns like Dusty, Bont, J Kelly and Danger but some of the other players have flaws. They are not as well rounded which is really interesting. You could say the same with Franklin's marking, age but when on he packs such a punch especially left on a forward flank!!
 
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It'll never happen - but for the first time WA appears to have the edge in talent

Injury free - we have the two best KPD and two best KPF and arguably the best 3 midfielders

I'd also add the most damaging ruckman - but that could be bias

Yeah that could be biased, Gawn is a gun and really would not be a weakness for Victoria although NN may have the edge in the tap.

Gawn to Bont. versus NN to Fyfe/Cripps would be interesting.

Historically Victoria look weak in the backline and forward line. Danger could even play back or forward in a rep game, Bont as well.

Using technicalities to claim Hawkins who is NSW shows how desperate they would be!!
 
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You also included Rance with his knee reconstruction despite Barrass being a better player anyway. But yes WA footy is in great shape at the minute.

Lol, Rance is better than Barrass and I said it was all assuming fully fit otherwise Franklin and some others probably would not get a gig. Rance is better defensively because he can cover more ground in terms of speed and agility and in the same way he is better offensively as a defender to

Barrass is a very handy defender but I put him behind Naughton let alone Rance especially as Naughton can swing forward
 

HurleyHepsHird

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Na, Stack is that good. You make a case for Shepperd though

Stack would/should be AA back pocket for the rest of his career like JR would be a automatic AA forward pocket for most of his career. I might replace Hill with Sheppard.

Stack, probably be forward for most of his career now, and some say go through midfield like in juniors but in a elite matchup against the best ideally he is perfect back pocket looking at the way he rolls
Sheppard has been the better player this year and is currently borderline starting 18 for the AA.

He is the best lockdown defender on the comp, can play tall or small, with watch like consistency.
 
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Sheppard has been the better player this year and is currently borderline starting 18 for the AA.

He is the best lockdown defender on the comp, can play tall or small, with watch like consistency.

There are different players.

As a pure back pocket especially for small forwards Stacks the guy. He handles you Eddie Betts, Higgins, Smith, Rankine types and any other small forward resting rover. Has the speed, toughness, leap, skill etc..


Sheppard I included for medium forwards to handle a De Goey types. Next year Sheppard probably gets replace by Jordan Clark who arguably is classier
 

HurleyHepsHird

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There are different players.

As a pure back pocket especially for small forwards Stacks the guy. He handles you Eddie Betts, Higgins, Smith, Rankine types and any other small forward resting rover. Has the speed, toughness, leap, skill etc..


Sheppard I included for medium forwards to handle a De Goey types. Next year Sheppard probably gets replace by Jordan Clark who arguably is classier
You are massively under rating Sheppard and over rating exciting youth.
 
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SoO works for the NRL because the NRL competition is so suburban. It would never work in the AFL because (a) the AFL competition is strong (b) SoO would effectively exclude players not from Vic, SA, and WA, (c) AFL Club supporters would not tolerate players from their teams being injured in a SoO competition
I disagree that it would "never work", but I do agree there would be significant considerations to work through and if not done correctly it wouldn't be great.

The main issue is the last part you mentioned, for SoO to work it needs to be embraced by the clubs and players. They need to want to play and clubs need to support that. If they don't it won't work having the second tier of players playing half ass because all the good players pull out late with "injuries".

I have no doubt that if that occurred, the issue would not be fan engagement. Who wouldn't want to see their state represented by their best players going hard at it to win?
 
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You are massively under rating Sheppard and over rating exciting youth.
Can Sheppard play on ball, wing, kick 4 goals up forward, handle Eddie Betts in his prime???

Sheppard is a totally different player to Stack.

Stack could shut down the likes of some Walters whereas Sheppard would have trouble doing so!!

Sheppard is not nimble enough and agile enough especially in confined spaces to handle the elite small forwards so he plays on medium forwards as a result!!
 

Tinyparts

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Can Sheppard play on ball, wing, kick 4 goals up forward, handle Eddie Betts in his prime???

Sheppard is a totally different player to Stack.

Stack could shut down the likes of some Walters whereas Sheppard would have trouble doing so!!

Sheppard is not nimble enough and agile enough especially in confined spaces to handle the elite small forwards so he plays on medium forwards as a result!!
lmao
 

Total_Juddshanks

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I've come to the conclusion that SOO would work if the following cunning ploy was adopted.

1. Play the series during one of the 24 weeks of the year when no other football is played.

2. Pay the players really really seriously good money.

That's it honestly. For all the arguments about lack of interest and concerns over being injured, money talks, and if the price is right you will get the likes of Fyfe, Dangerfield and co willing to rock up.

What is needed is buy in from the AFL and a long term sponsor willing to come on board.

In terms of arguments over injuries honestly I think this is massively overplayed- if you do it during the JLT and offered good $$ most stars would have played at least one warm up game anyway, so you are just substituting the risk of injury in that game for the risk of injury in SOO. In the unlikely event of a LTI, just offer the club salary cap relief equal to that player's salary so they can hit up the free agency market.

Honestly it's become a nothing argument. It would be really easy to implement a long term successful SOO series, all that is needed is $$ and some leadership from the AFL.
 
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I've come to the conclusion that SOO would work if the following cunning ploy was adopted.

1. Play the series during one of the 24 weeks of the year when no other football is played.

2. Pay the players really really seriously good money.

That's it honestly. For all the arguments about lack of interest and concerns over being injured, money talks, and if the price is right you will get the likes of Fyfe, Dangerfield and co willing to rock up.

What is needed is buy in from the AFL and a long term sponsor willing to come on board.

In terms of arguments over injuries honestly I think this is massively overplayed- if you do it during the JLT and offered good $$ most stars would have played at least one warm up game anyway, so you are just substituting the risk of injury in that game for the risk of injury in SOO. In the unlikely event of a LTI, just offer the club salary cap relief equal to that player's salary so they can hit up the free agency market.

Honestly it's become a nothing argument. It would be really easy to implement a long term successful SOO series, all that is needed is $$ and some leadership from the AFL.


Most of the time Victoria are too strong.

However, in this instance you could have a 2 game series as a temporary event to make it more commercially viable or even a 3 game series depending on interest.

One in Perth, one in the MCG. That way people have the chance to see most of the best play the best as a spectacle and being two games enough money and interest could be raised in terms of ticket revenue to justify somebody getting behind it regarding organisation.

How would you organise it?


I guess the states would have to play for a cup or prize. Call it the Whitten cup after Ted Whitten for example. Chance for players to chance their legacy, compete at higher level outside of finals to help their competitive juices


So a state would be entitled to challenge the holders of the cup like an Americas's Cup who could not refuse a challenge.

So for example most of the time Victoria hold the cup because there player quantity and quality is too strong. Maybe no state challenges Victoria. Just say like now WA challenges Victoria to the Cup and Victoria could not refuse the challenge.

So states do not waste peoples time if a state makes a challenge and they are not competitive it comes at a cost, they would face a penalty, serious penalty to rule out trivial challenges based on market forces,

Just say South Australia do not bother chlallenging as not strong enough.

WA challenge, given current strength decide to challenge and win it. Next year Victoria challenge WA to win it back and whether successful or not they are competitive. This might continue for a few years assuming eventually Victoria wins it back and WA strength wanes, relatively speaking, eventually and the Cup competition might become dormant for a while until the next state is prepared to take the gamble and challenge Victoria again!!
 
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