AFL Origin: Western Australian coach Dean Cox confident his side can match Victorian midfield firepower

West Australian coach Dean Cox will pay a deep Big V midfield due respect in next month’s AFL Origin clash but it won’t stop him leaning on his team’s own strengths. “Toughness, speed and skill level,” Cox told The West Australian three weeks out from the February 14 clash. “They (Victoria) have talent across all the lines, but when you pin it up against WA and some of the best games of Chad Warner, Kozzie (Kysaiah) Pickett, Patrick Cripps and Luke Jackson, it’s just as good.” It’s the AFL’s own Battle of the Bulge, Victoria’s talent laden midfield led by captain Marcus Bontempelli and featuring an all-star cast of Max Gawn, Nick Daicos, Caleb Serong, Zak Butters, Hugh McCluggage, Matt Rowell, Max Holmes and Noah Anderson pitted against Cripps, Jackson, Chad Warner, Brad Hill, Shai Bolton, Trent Rivers and Wil Powell. “We will be having a really strong discussion about how we try and play the way we want to play,” Cox said. “We will curb some of their influence but also get our players to understand they are just as good as these players, if not better, on their day.” A West Coast premiership legend and now Sydney coach, Cox said one of the first things he did when he took the helm of the WA team was to look at the number of Indigenous players at his disposal for Optus Stadium showcase, which will mark the first official State of Origin game since 1999. Pickett, Hill, Bolton, Charlie Cameron, Callum Ah Chee and Lawson Humphries are among the competition’s regular game-changers with their sleight of foot and unique skill set in midfield, attack and defence. “I am rapt to have a number of Indigenous players in the squad and the skill and excitement that they bring,” Cox said. “The other factor is WA has always been a strong and united State. We will be bringing that to the forefront as well.” There will be very little time to construct intricate game plans, with the WA squad only getting together for the first time on the Wednesday night, three nights out from the clash. “It’s tight. We’ll have a training session Thursday, there will be school and community visits, some tourism commitments, a captain’s run and we will get together with Victoria and the AFL for a dinner,” he said. “We play on Saturday and everyone goes back to their club on the Sunday.” Cox said getting the team to jell will be a challenge, but the WA players had been picked in a squad for a reason: Flair, plus skill, plus professiona,lism he hoped would enable the team to click. “For them to showcase their strengths and abilities, I won’t be taking that away from them,” he said. “I will make sure we can highlight that. There will be some connection stuff we do. We will really dive into the passion and spirit of WA and the Sandgropers. “We want to energise and excite all the WA faithful who will come and watch. “Part of it is to continually talk to them in the lead up too. We have had a number of zooms, myself, the AFL, (assistant coaches) Justin Longmuir and Nathan van Berlo and Jacko (chairman of selectors Glen Jakovich).” Cox said he’d met “zero” push back from AFL clubs mired in the depth of pre-season training and historically loath to risk players at Origin level. “One thing I was really strong with the AFL about was if we are going to do the concept, and they have been all over this as well, and bring it back we have to have the best players play,” he said. Among a raft of rules changes in the AFL this season, the substitute has gone and clubs will field five players on on the interchange bench. Cox said he anticipated the AFL allowing WA and Victoria to have “up to 25” players available through an extended interchange bench. Some players will be on managed game time - which Cox pointed out was no different to typical AFL games - and would ensure the best two teams available could be picked. “It is still clubs in pre-seasons … we wanted to make sure that we could manage as many players as we could,” he said. Cox described his WA captain, Geraldton product and dual Carlton Brownlow medallist Patrick Cripps, as “uncompromising, passionate and tough”. “People want to follow him. That is why it was such an easy decision (to make him captain),” Cox said. “As soon as I got the opportunity to take the reins he was the first one who sprung to mind.” Cox said the passion levels of players for the concept was off the charts. “All the calls I have made to all the players to say ‘We would love to have you in the team’, everyone straight away has said ‘I would absolutely love to play for WA and be a part of it’,” he said. “They want to play against the best and with the best. That’s why straight away they said ‘I’m in. “That’s what gives me such confidence about the concept. The players have spoken about it, they are now in a position where it is right in front of them and they have pushed really hard for it. “You have seen it sell out really quickly. It should be a really good spectacle.” Cox has his own motivation. He shifted to Perth as an 18-year-old to try out with East Perth colts and never wore the iconic Black Swan jumper at under-age or Origin level, his one “representative” game with an All Stars Dream Team line-up against Victoria at the MCG in 2008 in front of nearly 70,000 at the MCG. “That’s why I was so excited when the opportunity came along to be able to coach,” he said. “The Dream Team game was an unbelievable experience. To be able to train with the best players around the country. I spent a week with them in Melbourne and you do learn a lot from it. “To be able to work with players from other teams and see the way they prepare, how they go about their business, it was a really good learning experience.” Cox will have another battle on his hands when the ball is bounced on February 14 - holding back chairman of selectors and decorated Origin player Jakovich. He said his excitement had been evident “in every part of every zoom meeting”. “You talk about passion and how much he wants to beat Victoria. We will have to strap him to the desk in the coach’s box so he can’t run out there,” Cox said.