As usual State of Origin is in the news at this time of year and the lack of it in the AFL is put down to many factors.
One factor is of course which teams would play, given there isn't two absolutely dominant states like there is in rugby league.
Was thinking of other ways to look at it, and thought City v Country would be interesting. It would be a way of all taking part regardless of state. We have the advantage in Australia of having very large, well-defined cities, so while drawing the boundaries does have its challenges, it can be done pretty effectively. So I had a crack. Basically if you're from a state or territory capital (Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Hobart) I put them in City, and everybody else in Country.
City
B: M Hurley (Macleod) - D Talia (Greenvale) - E Yeo (East Fremantle)
HB: H Shaw (Diamond Creek) - A Rance (Noranda) - R Laird (Kenilworth)
C: A Gaff (Kew) - JP Kennedy (East Sandringham) - C Ward (Spotswood)
HF: R Gray (East Burwood) - J Daniher (Aberfeldie) - T Greene (Ashburton)
F: E Betts (Templestowe) - J Riewoldt (Clarence) - M Bontempelli (Eltham)
R: N Naitanui (Midvale) - J Kelly (East Brighton) - T Cotchin (West Preston Lakeside)
I: T Mitchell (Ashburton) - J Macrae (Kew Rovers) - D Shiel (Edithvale - Aspendale) - M Murphy (Doncaster)
Country
B: M Hibberd (Somerville) - J McGovern (North Albany) - N Jetta (Bunbury)
HB: J Lever (Romsey) - R Tarrant (South Mildura) - E Wood (Camperdown)
C: R Sloane (Upwey-Tecoma) - O Wines (Echuca) - N Fyfe (Lake Grace)
HF: P Dangerfield (Anglesea) - JJ Kennedy (Northampton) - D Martin (Castlemaine)
F: C Wingard (Imperials Murray Bridge) - T Lynch (Sorrento) - L Franklin (Dowerin)
R: P Ryder (Geraldton) - P Cripps (Northampton) - J Selwood (Sandhurst)
I: D Zorko (Surfers Paradise) - S Higgins (Newtown & Chilwell) - M Crouch (Ballarat) - S Pendlebury (Sale)
Thoughts...
- The very elite top-tier talent out of the country is phenomenal - Fyfe, Dangerfield, Martin, Franklin etc
- Both teams boast very hard midfields that would be well matched... you'd probably give it to Country on talent. But the City is hardly a pushover... Kennedy, Ward, Macrae, Gray, Mitchell, Shiel, Kelly, Cotchin, Murphy etc
- At first glance I thought Country would win fairly comfortably, but looking closely, I'm not so sure. The teams strengths and weaknesses actually line up a bit, which could lead to a very well-matched game. The Country forward line is awesome, but so is the City backline... many of the best defenders seem to be city slickers
- Likewise, while still very strong, the City forward line looks second-best... but the Country defenders do too, and may be easier to get hold of.
Would be a cracker of a game. What do you reckon? Who have I left out or put in the wrong team? (Did it pretty quickly)
(And yes I know this game won't happen, it's a hypothetical - though it would have legs as a charity game in terms of a real country game, given how cynical people are about Essendon v Geelong. If nothing else it's a reminder of how much amazing talent comes from regional areas).
One factor is of course which teams would play, given there isn't two absolutely dominant states like there is in rugby league.
Was thinking of other ways to look at it, and thought City v Country would be interesting. It would be a way of all taking part regardless of state. We have the advantage in Australia of having very large, well-defined cities, so while drawing the boundaries does have its challenges, it can be done pretty effectively. So I had a crack. Basically if you're from a state or territory capital (Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Hobart) I put them in City, and everybody else in Country.
City
B: M Hurley (Macleod) - D Talia (Greenvale) - E Yeo (East Fremantle)
HB: H Shaw (Diamond Creek) - A Rance (Noranda) - R Laird (Kenilworth)
C: A Gaff (Kew) - JP Kennedy (East Sandringham) - C Ward (Spotswood)
HF: R Gray (East Burwood) - J Daniher (Aberfeldie) - T Greene (Ashburton)
F: E Betts (Templestowe) - J Riewoldt (Clarence) - M Bontempelli (Eltham)
R: N Naitanui (Midvale) - J Kelly (East Brighton) - T Cotchin (West Preston Lakeside)
I: T Mitchell (Ashburton) - J Macrae (Kew Rovers) - D Shiel (Edithvale - Aspendale) - M Murphy (Doncaster)
Country
B: M Hibberd (Somerville) - J McGovern (North Albany) - N Jetta (Bunbury)
HB: J Lever (Romsey) - R Tarrant (South Mildura) - E Wood (Camperdown)
C: R Sloane (Upwey-Tecoma) - O Wines (Echuca) - N Fyfe (Lake Grace)
HF: P Dangerfield (Anglesea) - JJ Kennedy (Northampton) - D Martin (Castlemaine)
F: C Wingard (Imperials Murray Bridge) - T Lynch (Sorrento) - L Franklin (Dowerin)
R: P Ryder (Geraldton) - P Cripps (Northampton) - J Selwood (Sandhurst)
I: D Zorko (Surfers Paradise) - S Higgins (Newtown & Chilwell) - M Crouch (Ballarat) - S Pendlebury (Sale)
Thoughts...
- The very elite top-tier talent out of the country is phenomenal - Fyfe, Dangerfield, Martin, Franklin etc
- Both teams boast very hard midfields that would be well matched... you'd probably give it to Country on talent. But the City is hardly a pushover... Kennedy, Ward, Macrae, Gray, Mitchell, Shiel, Kelly, Cotchin, Murphy etc
- At first glance I thought Country would win fairly comfortably, but looking closely, I'm not so sure. The teams strengths and weaknesses actually line up a bit, which could lead to a very well-matched game. The Country forward line is awesome, but so is the City backline... many of the best defenders seem to be city slickers
- Likewise, while still very strong, the City forward line looks second-best... but the Country defenders do too, and may be easier to get hold of.
Would be a cracker of a game. What do you reckon? Who have I left out or put in the wrong team? (Did it pretty quickly)
(And yes I know this game won't happen, it's a hypothetical - though it would have legs as a charity game in terms of a real country game, given how cynical people are about Essendon v Geelong. If nothing else it's a reminder of how much amazing talent comes from regional areas).
