So, State of Origin footy is proposed for February 14 next year, in Perth.

Great! Some would say. But I have my reservations.

It’s not that I’m opposed to the concept, but more that as a former coach I know that the timing of such a game is critical and early in the year is far from ideal for preparation for players to be ready for round one of the home-and-away season.

A State of Origin match between Western Australia and Victoria is supposed to be a showcase of the best AFL players from those States. That’s what football fans want to see.

But the reality is, as the game draws closer, less and less of those high-profile players will be made available to play. I know this, because it happened when I coached a West Australian team against Victoria and club coaches looked for any possible, slight reason not to release their players to compete, for fear of injuries and the impact on their own team.

In a 2008 Victorian “dream team” game, we lost Josh Fraser to a knee injury which impacted the remainder of the season for Collingwood, and Josh’s career.

February in WA, no matter what time of the day, is hot. Technically, it should take months of pre-season and at least one or two practice matches to get in shape for what will be a tough and exhausting match.

Players cannot just appear on that day, with little lead up, and perform at their best.

There is already a reduced timeframe for players to begin pre-season training through the Player’s Association guidelines. And if you’re picking the best players, they more than likely played in the best teams which means they played finals and finished later in the year.

It might surprise some people to know that February 14 is only two weeks out from the AFL’s Opening Round, so that’s a lot to fit in in just a couple of months to be primed for a State of Origin blockbuster.

And when you think of some of the names that could be included — Harley Reid, Nick Daicos, Sam Darcy, Will and Levi Ashcroft — you wonder how those young bodies will hold up throughout such a long season.

There could be one determining factor for the availability of players for this game however — the mighty dollar.

The AFLPA will chase a minimum of 30 per cent for the players, which is fair enough, but I certainly hope players don’t put money in front of club success.

In which case the State of Origin could become like the NBA All-Stars games, which exhibit the best players at the cost of genuine competition. It’s a game of dunking highlights without defence. Is that really what AFL fans want to see?

The old State of Origin games used to be hard fought and genuinely competitive, with a real sense of pride in winning.

If we want State of Origin games like that again, I think we need to have a standalone State of Origin round in the middle of the season, with two games, so that South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania can be represented.

Rugby League’s successful State of Origin campaign, which is based on 100 years of genuine dislike between NSW and Queensland rugby teams and players and fans, is three grudge matches played across three months, with little travel required.

An AFL, WA versus Victoria exhibition game in February, with a four-hour flight for the away team, is not the same, and I fear, won’t allow for the biggest names in the league to take to the field.

After 27 years of waiting for the return of State of Origin footy, it could be so much better.