Brisbane premiership star Will Ashcroft has revealed he is not eligible to represent Victoria at next year's AFL Origin against Western Australia despite meeting the initial selection criteria.
Ashcroft played his junior football in Victoria from the age of 14, having led the Sandringham Dragons and Vic Metro during his draft year before being selected by the Lions at Pick 2 in 2022.
The 21-year-old was tied with St Kilda City as a local club, however he did not feature for the grassroots side given his representative commitments at higher levels.
Ashcroft featured for Southport and Broadbeach in Queensland at a younger age and now looks likely to represent the Sunshine State/Allies in the AFL Origin arena should a team be selected in the future.
AFL ORIGIN: SELECTED SQUADS, PREDICTED LINEUPS
The AFL's eligibility criteria from October read that "the best available players, based on their junior club location from where they were drafted" would be selected.
However, according to Ashcroft, the AFL has since made "some changes to the criteria", leaving the two-time Norm Smith Medal winner "pretty pissed".
"Apparently they've decided now that I'm not eligible, so I'm not playing unfortunately," he told News Corp.
"I'm pretty pissed about it, but I think there's been some changes to the criteria.
"I would have loved to play for Victoria, but unfortunately it isn't happening."
The AFL has granted Melbourne ace Kysaiah Pickett an exemption to play for Western Australia when the state clashes with Victoria at Optus Stadium on February 14.
Pickett grew up in WA before heading to South Australia to strengthen his draft chances, with the premiership Demon selected out of Woodville-West Torrens.
The lively forward headlines a strong Black Swans outfit, which also includes Sam Taylor, Patrick Cripps, Chad Warner and Luke Jackson.
Victoria's squad is littered with stars, having Matthew Rowell, Noah Anderson, Nick Daicos and Marcus Bontempelli leading an eye-watering midfield unit.
Both WA and Victoria are expected to name more squad additions ahead of the return of Origin football, with Sydney's Dean Cox and Geelong's Chris Scott named as the senior coaches respectively.
