AFL Origin: Football legend Ron Alexander believes WA’s home advantage could help topple star-studded Victoria

Ron Alexander has conceded WA may enter the return of State-versus-State football as the underdogs, but the football legend believes a fervent Perth crowd can help the Sandgropers topple a star-studded Victoria. Around 8000 Victorians are expected to make the trip west for the clash, but the remainder of Optus Stadium’s 60,000 seats are set to be filled with waves of black and gold for the AFL Origin clash next Saturday. Alexander’s legendary legacy in WA football includes playing in the inaugural State of Origin game in 1977 and coaching the State in their famous victory over Victoria in a three-point thriller in 1986. He said home advantage in the modern era may not be quite as large as his playing days before the rise of the national competition, when Subiaco Oval presented as a complete unknown to several Victorians, but he was confident it would play a part. “The West Australian boys will be out there wanting to win the game, and having a West Australian crowd certainly helps,” Alexander said. “WA players have played at Optus Stadium; they’ve played on that ground before. When we played in the first State of Origin match, most of us playing for WA had played at Subiaco Oval, where the rest of them (in Victoria) hadn’t. “To get selected for your State is certainly a great honour . . . players want to get one of those guernseys and get acknowledged, but I think people out there want to watch as well and see that standard of game.” Alexander conceded Victoria’s side were likely to enter the game as favourites, but Origin’s history provided countless reminders pre-game expectations would count for nothing come the sounding of the first siren. “You just don’t know, that’s why you play the game,” he said. “They’ve won more Brownlow Medals and premierships and all the rest of it, the players that are playing for Victoria, so WA would have to go in as underdogs.” The early stages of Alexander’s State playing career came when players were aligned to the league they played in, rather than where they were from — and even he himself twice represented Victoria in his years with Fitzroy. He said he was greatly relieved the format had changed ahead of the famous 1977 clash. “Before that, you felt you were the underdogs because it was WA versus the rest of Australia. All the better players played in Victoria, supposedly,” Alexander said. “In WA sides, we played against West Australians, South Australians, Tasmanians, Victorians, all of them. You’d lose by six or seven points and you’d played against the best WA could put up because they’d gone to Victoria.” Get a FREE WA AAMI AFL Origin Guernsey worth RRP $130 when you sign up for a 12-month subscription to thewest.com.au Subscribe now from just $6 per week. T&Cs apply, limited time only. https://www.thewest.com.au/footypack