Coach Brenton Sanderson says he’d support the return of State of Origin football, but concedes the timing of the match would be critical.

The State of Origin issue was put back on the table this week, with a report the AFL Players Association is behind a push to revive a representative game in some form.

South Australian-born Sanderson didn’t represent his state as a player during his 209-game career, but ironically was involved with the Victorian team as an assistant coach to former Geelong mentor Mark Thompson in the one-off ‘Hall of Fame’ game between the ‘Big V’ and the All-Stars in 2008 to mark the celebrations of the 150^th anniversary of Australian Football.

Now a coach in his own right, Sanderson said he’d like to see a State of Origin-style clash return, but only if the premiership season fixture wasn’t compromised as a result.

“If the players want it, they should push for it. We would certainly support it, but from a coaching point of view the timing is critical,” Sanderson told afc.com.au.

“Obviously, you’d have to do it at a time when the rest of the competition was having a break. You couldn’t do what the NRL do and have a game mid-week. The fans and players love it (State of Origin), so we should push to get it back if the timing is right.”

AFLPA president Luke Ball floated the idea of playing the game in the pre-season, but Sanderson said it would make the player-selection process difficult.

“How would you pick players based on form? You’d be picking guys based on reputation,” he said.

“And from a coaching point of view, I don’t think we’d want players playing State of Origin before the premiership season even got underway.

“You’ve got to showcase the game somewhere, but I’m not 100 per cent sure where. I think it’s something the AFL and the players should get together and discuss. It could be a real highlight of the AFL calendar.”

Sanderson also accepted the non-Victorian AFL teams could be compromised if the traditional state-versus-state concept was revived.

“There are plenty of Victorians in the competition. I think it’s probably gone past a SA, Victoria, WA, NSW and QLD competition. It would probably have to be a Victoria versus the rest,” he said.

“I was actually assistant coach of the Victorian team in 2008. Mark Thompson coached Victoria and brought his assistant coaching team over from Geelong, so it was me, Ken Hinkley and Brendan McCartney. Chris Scott, who was working at Fremantle at the time, was involved too.

“It was Victoria versus the rest, which was still a good concept. The players, who played for the All-Stars really enjoyed it as well. It was a fantastic experience for everyone.”

Crows midfielder Patrick Dangerfield, who would be aligned to Victoria, also supported the return of State of Origin.

“I think it’s a fantastic concept that’s been lost to footy and it would be great if we could get it back,” Dangerfield said.

“The way the draft has been set up has changed it. In the past, you’d come through the system and be allocated to certain zones. If you were from where I’m from, you’d go to Geelong and play there and remain in your state.

“The way the draft is these days, you sort of lose that. I’ve been in South Australia for five years, so you lose that feeling of only ever playing for your state. When you play Under-15s or Under-16s, you love wearing the ‘Big V’ or the SA or WA jumpers, but unfortunately you can’t do it (at AFL level) anymore.”

Crows players listed by state of origin:

SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Luke Brown
James Craig
Michael Doughty
Cam Ellis-Yolmen
Mitch Grigg
Sam Jacobs
Matt Jaensch
Graham Johncock
Lewis Johnston
Nick Joyce
Rory Laird
Brodie Martin
Jared Petrenko
Jason Porplyzia
Ben Rutten
Brodie Smith
Brad Symes
Scott Thompson
Bernie Vince
Matt Wright

VICTORIA
Brad Crouch
Patrick Dangerfield
Richard Douglas
Rick Henderson
Josh Jenkins
Sam Kerridge
Chris Knights
Tom Lynch
Jarryd Lyons
David Mackay
Shaun McKernan
Dylan Orval
Andy Otten
Brent Reilly
Sam Shaw
Rory Sloane
Daniel Talia
Luke Thompson
Will Young

NEW SOUTH WALES
Ben Dowdell
Sam Martyn
Taylor Walker
Tim McIntyre
Aidan Riley

WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Nathan van Berlo

QUEENSLAND
Kurt Tippett

NORTHERN TERRITORY
Richard Tambling

TASMANIA
Ian Callinan

Don't forget the time change: Adelaide takes on Geelong, 12.45pm Saturday 12 May in the Crows next home match AAMI Stadium.  Click here for tickets and match day information.