2026 State of Origin Preview

Thank goodness for State of Origin Footy.  It rescues us from the sports wasteland of February between the end of Test Cricket and the start of the footy season proper.  There’s only so many Elvis movies one can consume.  Ok, it’s maybe not that bad with cricket tragics getting the T20 World Cup to revel in, but for me at least that’s just glorified backyard cricket.  I see a future where one hand one bounce is added to the rules and 6 and out will be a thing with batters being forced into the shame of retrieving the ball from Mrs. Gattley’s Rose bushes. 

Of course, there is also the Winter Olympics which we’re currently in the midst of.  Where you can get your fill of sports like Curling, Skeleton and Ski-jumping which has had some recent controversy with competitors injecting a form of acid into their penises to make them bigger.  Allegedly it gives some kind of aerodynamic advantage…I’m guessing it’s something like Australia II and the secret winged keel.  If only I had’ve known there was a sport where penis size was important, I might have had more focus and ambition in life.

The Ashes was a bit disappointing, as are most Test series in Australia of that magnitude.  I am of the belief that Australia has a cultural problem around test cricket.  Not just the players, but right though the administration and the supporters.  Rather than an engaging series, cricket supporters are driven by the desire to see a whitewash.  I personally can’t think of anything worse.  This drive has an impact on scheduling by the administration and the players in the way they prepare.

State of Origin, W.A. vs Vic., Perth Stadium, 14^th February 2026, 4:40pm (local)

Anyway, it’s just my opinion and a dominant performance by one side provides me with a nice segway into the State of Origin.  The squads that have been announced at the time of writing are as follows:

Vic.		W.A.
Player	Club	Player	Club
Hugh McCluggage	Brisbane	Aaron Naughton	Footscray
Jack Sinclair	St. Kilda	Brad Hill	St. Kilda
Jacob Weitering	Carlton	Brandon Starcevich	Brisbane
Jeremy Cameron	Geelong	Callum Ah Chee	Brisbane
Marcus Bontempelli	Footscray	Chad Warner	Sydney
Matt Rowell	Gold Coast	Charlie Cameron	Brisbane
Max Gawn	Melbourne	Darcy Cameron	Collingwood
Max Holmes	Geelong	Jesse Hogan	GWS
Nick Daicos	Collingwood	Jordan Clark	Fremantle
Noah Anderson	Gold Coast	Kysaiah Pickett	Melbourne
Sam Darcy	Footscray	Lawson Humphries	Geelong
Toby Greene	GWS	Liam Baker	West Coast
Tom Stewart	Geelong	Luke Jackson	Fremantle
Zac Butters	Port Adelaide	Mitch Georgiades	Port Adelaide
Lachie Ash	GWS	Patrick Cripps	Carlton
Josh Battle	Hawthorn	Rory Lobb	Footscray
Patrick Dangerfield	Geelong	Sam Taylor	GWS
Blake Hardwick	Hawthorn	Shai Bolton	Fremantle
Zach Merrett	Essendon	Tom Barrass	Hawthorn
Ed Richards	Footscray	Trent Rivers	Melbourne
Caleb Serong	Fremantle	Wil Powell	Gold Coast

However, I expect teams will have extended squads and benches given temperatures in Perth in February are akin to smashing lead ions together in the Large Hadron Collider (5.5 trillion degrees for those excited by science) so expect a few more announcements.  At least we know Lachie Neale won’t be there.  He’s got a busy period dealing with moving companies and relationship detanglers.

When I look at the squads it looks to me like Victoria has the more dominant squad and so I give W.A. a snowballs chance in Perth in February of winning this one.  The hope for W.A is that Victoria’s experiment conclusively proves that a team of champions does not make a champion team.  Victoria will be coached by Chris Scott, who after 15 seasons at Geelong has had them in the Preliminary Final or better 10 times.  He’s an obvious choice.  W.A. will be coached by Dean Cox…because he’s the only West Australian Coach in the league. Ok, that’s a bit harsh on Justin Longmuir and I can only assume he was overlooked because he’s from somewhere between Wyalkatchem and Badgerin Rock, which both sound like AI generated places.

As keen observers we are pleased that clubs are embracing this concept this time and allowing any players on their lists to have the chance to represent their state and we’re also absolutely shit-scared of hammy’s torn from the bone, shoulders knocked out of place and the word ‘cruciate’ appearing in the same sentence as ‘ripped asunder’.

Being born in Victoria and now living in W.A. I’m happy that either way I can claim I’m a winner.  I have the luxury of attending the match with a group of mates and with both full-strength and alcohol free beer now available at the venue, I might even enjoy a tipple.  I’ll probably buy one of each and make my own mid-strength.

So, how is this game going to go down?  In the ruck watching the wily old Max Gawn go toe to toe with the athletic Luke Jackson will delight the crowds.  Sam Darcy and Darcy Cameron provide the backup in what is sure to be a pivotal old fashioned Darcy-off like they had in Pride and Prejudice (a Jane Austin reference in a footy preview – that’s a first).  Victoria will be serviced by clearance machines in Rowell, Anderson, Serong and Dangerfield who will in turn give first use to magic ball users like Bontempelli, Daicos and Butters.  It could be an All-Geelong Wing setup with Max Holmes on one side and (if rumours prove true and he gets off Tinder for 5 minutes) Bailey Smith on the other side.  They will be feeding the ball with regularity down the pussybow’s of Jeremy Cameron, Toby Green and Sam Darcy.  They will be a formidable challenge for Tom Barras, Sam Taylor and their defender mates.

If W.A. can get ascendency in the middle through Chad Warner, Liam Baker and Patrick Cripps they will be staring at the presented gullets of Naughton, Hogan, Georgiades and Lobb and where they might have the advantage over the Vics is the fleet of goal sneaks lying at their feet in Charlie Cameron, Kysaiah Pickett and Shai Bolton.  A very difficult trio to contain, even if you get everything right.  If you like a punt, I’d take the total score being 200+ as I’m tipping both coaches won’t be keen on lock-down roles despite the quality of defenders that both teams have.  They both know what the crowd wants and hopefully conditions are amicable for a shootout with new turf being laid after a dreaded Ed Sheeran concert two weeks prior.

The more I write the better chance I give W.A. but I don’t think it will be enough.  It might not be the Valentine’s Day Massacre that I first predicted, more of a drive by shooting or a violent liquor store robbery.  Or perhaps just your average ICE patrol.

We all look forward to it as a fantastic warm up to the 2026 AFL Season.  If you’ve got a member of your preferred team playing, may they get through injury free.  Victoria by 35 points.