THE GAME being dubbed the “best ever” is still six weeks away, but on Wednesday, Dream Team skipper Andrew McLeod fired the first shot at his Hall of Fame tribute match rivals, Victoria.
AFL players have not had an opportunity to line up in a State of Origin game since the concept was scrapped in 1999, but McLeod said there was “no doubt” the rivalry between Victoria and the rest of the country still existed.
“I remember when the AFL first announced the Hall of Fame tribute match at a press conference,” McLeod said.
“You could almost feel the tension [between the two teams], the arrogance of the Victorians and the fact that we’d love to belt them.
“The game has received great support from the players. I remember Nick Riewoldt coming up to me after the NAB Cup grand final and saying ‘looking forward to hopefully getting the opportunity to play with you’.
“So, you see those blokes are putting their hands up and so are the guys in Victoria who want to play for the Big V.
“And why wouldn’t you want to play in one of the biggest games this country will ever see?”
The game, to be played at the MCG on May 10 as part of the AFL’s 150-year celebrations, will feature names like McLeod, Riewoldt, Shaun Burgoyne, Chad and Kane Cornes, Brad Ottens, Dean Cox, Simon Black, Lance Franklin, Matthew Richardson and Daniel Kerr - and that’s just in the Dream Team.
Power boss Mark Williams and his assistant Neale Daniher have been put in charge of coaching the exciting squad.
The Vics, who will be coached by Mark Thompson with assistance from Kevin Sheedy, will also have an embarrassment of talent to choose from including skipper Jonathan Brown, Chris Judd, Matthew Lloyd, Gary Ablett, Jimmy Bartel, Sam Mitchell, Brent Harvey, Nick Dal Santo, Barry Hall, Adam Goodes and Brad Johnson.
Despite the match being played mid-way through the AFL premiership season, McLeod didn’t expect players to walk away from the honour of representing their state in the blockbuster.
“It’s a one-off opportunity to play against the best of the best, so I think blokes will be bending over backwards to play,” he said.
“I don’t think blokes take playing for their state lightly because it’s something we all grew up with.
“To play with Brendon Lade, one of the best ruckmen in the competition, and other guys you normally don’t get the chance to play with will be fantastic and I might even be able to steal some inside information off them.”
On Wednesday, McLeod modelled the specially designed guernsey the Dream Team will wear in the match.
The strip is predominantly white and features the name of 1246 community and grass roots clubs that play football throughout the states represented by the Dream Team.
Each player will also have the emblem of his home state featured on his guernsey.
“The jumper is quite unique and I’m sure blokes will be pretty honoured to get the opportunity to wear it,” McLeod said.
“All the clubs from all over Australia are on this jumper, so its great recognition for those clubs and great that they are able to share in such a prestigious game.
“Hopefully they feel a part of it because they have all contributed to 150 years of footy throughout Australia.”
