2026 AFL Origin
Australian rules football match
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The 2026 AFL Origin match was an Australian rules football match held in accordance with State of Origin selection criteria between two representative sides organised by the Australian Football League (AFL).
| 2026 AFL Origin | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 14 February 2026 | |||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Optus Stadium | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 58,141 | |||||||||||||||
| Favourite | Victoria | |||||||||||||||
It was played on 14 February 2026 at Optus Stadium in Perth, between Western Australia and Victoria. The match, which was organised in partnership with the West Australian government, was Western Australia's first appearance in a state of origin match since 1998, Victoria's first since 2020, and the first match between the two states since 1992.[1]
Attended by a sold-out crowd of 58,141 spectators, the contest was won by Victoria by 24 points.[2] The success of the match, in terms of player participation and spectator interest, led to calls to make representative football an annual occasion at the start of each AFL season.[3]
Teams
The AFL staggered the names of players selected for the two teams over the off-season. On 14 November 2025, the AFL announced the first group of eight players to compete for the Western Australian and Victorian teams, which included club captains Patrick Cripps (Western Australia) and Marcus Bontempelli (Victoria).[4]
Players were, in most cases, eligible to play for the state they were drafted from, along with the state they played the majority of their junior football.[5] Brisbane Lions star midfielder Will Ashcroft, despite captaining Victoria at junior level and being drafted from the state, was ruled ineligible for selection due to being part of the league's Gold Coast Suns Academy program.[6][7] Melbourne forward Kysaiah Pickett, who was drafted from the Woodville-West Torrens Football Club in South Australia and did not play his junior football in Western Australia, was selected for Western Australia on the basis that he was predominantly raised in Quairading, and identified as a Noongar man.[8]
Both teams had late withdrawals due to injuries, with Brandon Starcevich withdrawn for Western Australia[9] and Jeremy Cameron for Victoria.[10] Guernsey numbers were announced on 9 February 2026, with most players allocated the numbers that they wore at their respective clubs; however, as there were several cases of multiple players wearing the same number, a rule was instigated where if multiple players requested the same number, the deciding factor was the number of games played in that number.[11][12]
Scorecard
| 2026 AFL Origin | |||||
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| Saturday, 14 February 4:40 pm (AWST) |
Western Australia | def. by | Victoria | Optus Stadium (crowd: 58,141) | [15][16][17] |
| 3.1 (19) 8.4 (52) 11.6 (72) 15.11 (101) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
6.3 (39) 11.8 (74) 15.11 (101) 18.17 (125) |
Umpires: Meredith, Meyer, Mollison, Stephens[18] Graham Moss Medal (Western Australia) & E.J. Whitten Medal (Victoria): Jesse Hogan (Western Australia) & Lachie Ash (Victoria) | ||
| Hogan 5 Cameron 3 Waterman, Jackson 2 Warner, Hill, Bolton 1 |
Goals | King 4 Merrett, McCluggage, Greene, Dangerfield 2 Xerri, Smith, Serong, Daicos, Butters, Bontempelli 1 | |||
| Hogan, Warner, Barrass, Hill, Baker, Bolton | Best | Daicos, Bontempelli, Serong, King, Butters, Ash, Stewart | |||
| Georgiades (hamstring), Taylor (hamstring), Ah Chee (hamstring) | Injuries | Weitering (shoulder/ribs), Rowell (finger) | |||
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Medal ceremony
The Graham Moss Medal was won by Western Australian forward Jesse Hogan, who kicked five goals from thirteen disposals and nine marks; and the E. J. Whitten Medal was won by Victorian defender Lachie Ash, who had 25 disposals and seven marks.[20]