THE AFL hopes to announce a return to State of Origin “soon”, with February mooted as the date.
League chief executive Andrew Dillon pointed to the success of the pre-season exhibition game in Perth earlier this year, when Fremantle played the Indigenous All-Stars.
By early next year, it will be 27 years since the AFL last had State of Origin games, with WA reportedly tipped to play Victoria at Perth’s Optus Stadium before the premiership season starts next year.
“Conversations are in progress with state governments and also with our players and our clubs,” Dillon said.
“I’m really keen to see that our best players on the ground at the same time.
“The All-Stars game at the start of the year showed that there’s a real appetite for seeing that.
“Hopefully there will be an announcement soon.”
Also on Tuesday, Dillon confirmed there would be no major change this year to the father-son rules, which continue to generate debate in the game.
“The father-son rule has stood the test of time and that qualification of 100 games will stay,” he said.
“In relation to the bidding process, that is always under review, but we have the rules in place for this year.”
And Dillon is comfortable that no further action was taken after the AFL’s integrity unit investigated an incident between Sydney defender Nick Blakey and Brisbane forward Henry Smith, amid concerns about inappropriate contact.
“It didn’t look great, it’s a bit clumsy, but it’s not at the stage where we needed a sanction,” Dillon said.
