Eddie McGuire has thrown his support behind the return of State of Origin football with the Collingwood president believing pre-season is the best time of year for the game.
McGuire believes the pre-season time slot allows more clubs the opportunity to allow their stars to participate as they would be playing practice games anyway.
"You’re probably better playing against the superstars of the game than some kid from the VFL or someone who’s trying to make a name for themselves," he told SEN.
The Fox Footy commentator, who will co-host the event with Channel 7’s Bruce McAvaney as part of a special joint TV broadcast, believes that the game should be played every three years to allow time for it to breath.
“I think the way to do it going forward is doing it every three years which is about the life cycle of a footballer on the lower end.
“If you had it every three years and made it a big carnival – you do it at this time of the year where everyone are playing practice matches anyway."
McGuire eluded to problems Collingwood faced in 2008 when ruckman Josh Fraser went down with a knee injury the last time the Big V took on the All-Stars in the Hall of Fame Tribute Match.
McGuire believes mid-year injuries are too big a deterrent for clubs nowadays.
“What happens is in the middle of the season (players use injury as an excuse not to play). We lost Josh Fraser in the last Origin game – he gets picked because he’s playing great football (for Collingwood) and then does (damage to) his posterior cruciate ligament. That really made a big impact on our season.
"I’m a massive supporter of State of Origin but as president of Collingwood I was really upset about the whole thing."
McGuire believes a prominent State of Origin game could provide the type of buzz and atmosphere the AFL seeks in the pre-season.
