State of Origin: Squad recaps and our predictions

Over the past week, the Zero Hanger office caught State of Origin fever as we got excited about the possibility of the old format coming back in the future.

With the last State of Origin match being played in 1999, Australian football fans have had to go without the competition for the past 18 years, so we thought we'd bring it back in our own little way.

We've selected squads for Vic Metro, Vic Country, South Australia and Western Australia, with a view of the mini-tournament being held at the end of the year.

So here are all four squads in full, and our predictions as to how the competition would pan out.

Vic Metro

FB: Rory Atkins, Daniel Talia, Matthew Boyd
HB: Sam Mitchell, Michael Hurley, Heath Shaw
C: Tom Scully, Luke Parker, Andrew Gaff
HF: Jack Viney, Tom Boyd, Callan Ward
FF: Toby Greene, Tom Lynch, Robbie Gray
R: Max Gawn, Rory Sloane (c), Marcus Bontempelli
Interchange: Trent Cotchin, Josh P. Kennedy, Dan Hannebery, Marc Murphy

Vic Country

FB: Easton Wood, Robbie Tarrant, Sam Docherty
HB: Luke Hodge, Ben Reid, Lachlan Henderson
C: Dyson Heppell, Gary Ablett, Scott Pendlebury
HF: Steele Sidebottom, Jarryd Roughead, Luke Dahlhaus
F: Shaun Higgins, Jake Stringer, Dustin Martin
R: Shane Mumford, Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood (c)
Interchange: Tom Rockliff, Travis Boak, Ollie Wines, Jordan Lewis

Western Australia

FB: Neville Jetta, Alex Rance, Jeremy McGovern
HB: Jason Johannisen, Harry Taylor, Elliot Yeo
C:  Brad Hill, Tom Mitchell, Stephen Hill,
HF: Jack Darling, Lance Franklin, Mitch Duncan
FF: Mark LeCras, Josh J Kennedy, Michael Walters
R: Nic Naitanui, Nat Fyfe (c), Matt Priddis
Interchange: Jesse Hogan, Stephen Congilio, David Swallow, Patrick Cripps

South Australia

FB: Shannon Hurn, Heath Grundy, Brodie Smith
HB: Rory Laird, Phil Davis (c), Andrew Mackie
C: Hamish Hartlett, Bernie Vince, Ryan Griffen
HF: Daniel Menzel, Justin Westhoff, Chad Wingard
FF: Eddie Betts, Orazio Fantasia, Shane Edwards
R: Sam Jacobs, Bryce Gibbs, Lachie Neale
Interchange: Paul Puopolo, Danyle Pearce, Caleb Daniel, Brodie Grundy

Who would win?

On first look, both Victorian sides seem to be much stronger than SA and WA, although Western Australia certainly have the key position players that could win them a game.

If each side played each other once in a round robin tournament, the game between Metro and Country would likely decide the champions in our eyes.

Despite having some quality players, South Australia would struggle against the might of the other sides, and could even fail to win a game.

WA has the ability to beat the Country side should everyone play to their strengths, but we feel they could be too inconsistent, meaning both Victorian outfits would get the points against them.

So that leaves Vic Metro and Vic Country, as the two best sides in the tournament.

Country's midfielders of Dyson Heppell, Gary Ablett, Scott Pendlebury, Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood may be the best engine room ever assembled, but there's just too much talent in that Metro side to be beaten.

Winners: Vic Metro