As the NRL world focuses its attention on the second clash in the 2024 State of Origin series at the MCG on Wednesday night, we’ve taken a look at what the AFL version would look like.

Of course, it’s not quite the same in Aussie rules – we don’t have just two dominant states who hate each other. So we could go one of two ways; pick the Victorian, West Australian, South Australian and Allies sides, or just go everyone against Victoria.

And given the number of times ‘Victorian bias’ has been brought up this year, we figured we’d go with the latter – and below we’ve picked our best 23s for the hypothetical Allies vs Victoria.

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These sides have been selected based on 2024 form, not just name value.

That means big-game players such as Toby Greene, Tom Stewart, Charlie Cameron and Tom Papley, who have been down on usual output this season, aren’t picked – though should an actual State of Origin series take place, they would surely be in the mix.

Future Hall of Famers in Dustin Martin, Scott Pendlebury, Tom Hawkins and Luke Breust were also overlooked given they are past their prime, but the sheer numbers they’d bring through the gate for an Origin clash would make them selection locks.

Injuries impacted the chances of players such as Christian Petracca, Josh Kelly, Tom Liberatore, Stephen Coniglio and Aaron Naughton, while players like Jordan Ridley and Oscar Allen ultimately haven’t played enough football to warrant selection.

VICTORIA

B: James Sicily, Jacob Weitering, Luke Ryan

HB: Nick Daicos, Darcy Moore, Harry Sheezel

C: Jack Sinclair, Zach Merrett, Sam Walsh

HF: Harley Reid, Jeremy Cameron, Zak Butters

FF: Harry McKay, Charlie Curnow, Dylan Moore

FOLL: Max Gawn, Marcus Bontempelli, Caleb Serong

I/C: Matt Rowell, Adam Treloar, Max Holmes, Dan Houston, Noah Anderson

A scoring chain of Gawn tapping it to Serong, who handpasses to Bontempelli, who finds Reid, who hits Curnow in the chest sounds incredibly tough to stop.

In terms of the toughest omissions, Luke Davies-Uniacke, Lachie Whitfield and Ed Richards were very stiff not to make the cut, while Sam Flanders and Bailey Dale have both had strong seasons off half-back but couldn’t get ahead of potential Brownlow winner Daicos or young gun Sheezel, who would be a stalwart of this team for years to come.

Ben King can consider himself extraordinarily unlucky given he leads the race for the Coleman Medal, but the pure talent of Cameron plus McKay and Curnow’s dominance as a duo made them too hard to ignore. Gun Bombers Jake Stringer and Kyle Langford were also considered.

Josh Daicos is one of the game’s most elite wingmen but was just squeezed out, likewise the ever-underrated Sam Collins in key defence, while the improvement in Mac Andrew, Hayden Young and Ben McKay this season has been profound. Tristan Xerri and Rowan Marshall were in contention if we chose to select a second ruck.

Josh Kelly would’ve probably been picked had he played just another game or two.

ALLIES

B: Cal Wilkie, Harris Andrews, Jeremy McGovern

HB: Dayne Zorko, Sam Taylor, Nic Martin

C: Jordan Dawson, Patrick Cripps, Errol Gulden

HF: Isaac Heeney, Jake Waterman, Shai Bolton

FF: Tyson Stengle, Jesse Hogan, Izak Rankine

FOLL: Brodie Grundy, Chad Warner, Lachie Neale

I/C: Elliot Yeo, Luke Jackson, Nick Blakey, Tom Green, Will Day

Given that South Australia and Western Australia would often beat Victoria just by themselves, unsurprisingly a team combining the two heartland areas plus the northern states is incredibly strong.

The Swans’ midfield is heavily represented here, but throw in three Brownlow medals plus the guy they’d love to have back (but is instead starring in Adelaide), and you’ve got an unstoppable group.

Eagles interceptor Tom Barrass, Dockers defender Jordan Clark and Saints jet Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera all narrowly missed selection in defence, while Saints hardman Jack Steele was squeezed out for his fellow Canberran Green.

Port Adelaide duo Connor Rozee and Jason Horne-Francis nearly made the cut and recently re-signed Swans forward Will Hayward was also in the mix.

Last month, Melbourne champion and Fox Footy commentator Garry Lyon took to the SEN airwaves to voice his frustration, saying that it was a “disgrace” that there is no longer an AFL State of Origin series.

“It is an unmitigated disgrace that we don’t have State of Origin football,” Lyon told SEN Breakfast.

“I know people say, ‘you’re flogging a dead horse’.

“It’s an out and out disgrace that we don’t have it. I’m embarrassed that we don’t.”

The last true AFL State of Origin was played in 1999 when Victoria took on South Australia.

“We gave it up, we ceded control of the golden ticket and now they’re going to wander into our town in the middle of the football season and have 95,000 people watching their State of Origin while we play tiddlywinks in the corner.”

Lyon believes that clubs need to “look beyond” their own bubbles and think of the greater good for the game. There’s growing belief that some players are opposed to an AFL Origin comeback as the potential risk of injury outweighs possible team success.

“On June 26, it’s Victoria versus whoever, Harley Reid would be playing for Victoria, Nick Daicos would be playing for Victoria, Zak Butters would be playing for Victoria,” he told SEN.

“Tell me why we don’t have that in our game? It is a disgrace!

“Didn’t you hear Billy Slater? The game owns the players. Give something back.

“The clubs’ entitled view on things – look beyond it. It’s beyond you. Grow this game.

“We are getting taken over by the game in the northern states in the eyes of the country. We will become a little, small game and code again that pleases ourselves when we had the capacity to please the broader community.

“Reid, Daicos, Butters against Gulden, Heeney, Warner, all playing at the elite top level. Their CVs are worse off for not having been able to establish themselves sin this games at that level.

“Those that run the game, you have let us down badly.”

– with Max Laughton