AFL

WA champion tips 'torrid' Origin experience for Big V

By AAP Newswire

Sep 15, 2025

The Big V colours will hit the field in the AFL's State of Origin return in February. -AAP Image

Western Australia great Glen Jakovich expects his home state to deliver traditional heavyweight Victoria a "torrid" experience when State of Origin football returns.

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The Sandgropers will host the Big V at Optus Stadium on February 14 next year, in a re-launch of the representative format which has not featured on the AFL calendar in more than 25 years.

Only five WA products were named in this year's 44-player All-Australian squad, but former West Coast champion Jakovich is bullish about the hosts' chances under Perth's summer sun.

"The Victorians have always struggled here in WA. They can't keep up with our pace, the grounds are too quick for them," Jakovich said.

"I look at Luke Jackson, who will palm it to Chad Warner, Patrick Cripps will be in the middle, so it won't go into our back-line.

"Then there's the aerialists. You'll have Mitch Georgiades and Aaron Naughton, if they don't mark it Bobby Hill will just sweep it up.

"So it's going to be a torrid afternoon here for the Victorians come February 14."

Jakovich backed his former West Coast teammate and current Sydney boss Dean Cox to coach the WA side.

The Origin fixture could be the first to feature new rules likely to be approved by the AFL Commission this month, including last disposal out of bounds.

Larger squads and unlimited interchange rotations are also likely to be allowed in the pre-season exhibition, with player eligibility criteria to be confirmed in coming months.

In theory, the fixture could pit WA-raised stars Cripps, Jackson and Warner against Victoria's Nick Daicos, Marcus Bontempelli and Bailey Smith.

Chief executive Andrew Dillon said the AFL expects full buy-in from players and clubs, buoyed by the passion for the concept displayed by Carlton captain and two-time Brownlow medallist Cripps.

"We've been talking with the clubs over a period and if the players buy in, the clubs buy in," Dillon said.

"Ultimately it's about us playing games that the fans want and we know that the fans will flock to this game when we get the best players from WA and Victoria on a massive stage."

Origin was last played in 1999, when Victoria thrashed South Australia, while the Big V also featured against composite sides in the 2008 Hall of Fame tribute match and 2020 bushfire relief match.

WA and Victoria have not played each other since 1992.

Dillon said other states will have the opportunity to play Origin in future but it made sense for WA to host Victoria in the re-launch, given they contested the inaugural fixture in 1977.