Glen Quartermain: AFL State of Origin delivers as Victoria answers Western Australia's fightback

There was something for everyone, in gold and black and navy blue technicolour. There was WA’s explosive start – 16 possessions before Victoria had touched the ball and Chad Warner’s goal on the run inside the first minute. There was some old-fashioned Origin rough and tumble when Victorian midfielder Zak Butters was set upon after his turnover led to a Charlie Cameron goal on the run - cue Country Roads. There was a Nick Daicos twist and give to Marcus Bontempelli. There was Charlie Cameron’s near mark of the decade over Collins. There were casualties. The game was delayed by nine minutes – the first quarter went 42 minutes – when Victorian defender Jacob Weitering became the meat in a Mitch Georgiades-Sam Collins sandwich and was sent to hospital for scans. And that was just the first quarter. Did Origin live up to Garry Lyon’s billing of footy porn? If it didn’t quite get the X-rating, it was seductively close. Played in an atmosphere somewhere between a big western derby and a final, the players put on a show that should ensure the modern day version of Origin has a sequel. By quarter time the Vics had nearly 40 more disposals at 81 per cent efficiency – it was going at 96 per cent midway through the term and had turned that into a 20-point lead. Just as the Big V threatened to put a gap in the game, West Australian Kysaiah Pickett brought some energy into the contest and had the Victorian defenders second guessing. Mitch Georgiades’ run down tackle on Daicos streaming forward gave Jake Waterman the opportunity to bridge to the gap to 15 points and he didn’t miss. There were 10 goals – five from each team - kicked in the second term and there was no sign of Mickey Mouse football either, with players committing. As Bontempelli told Channel 7 at half time: “No one is stepping out the way.” As fatigue set in for the players in their first serious hitout for the pre-season and played in sapping heat, Victoria’s cleaner hands and feet and WA’s tendency to turn the ball over were the difference. The true Origin believers needed a contest and WA kicked three in a row after Bailey Smith had put the visitors 30 points up by the 10-minute mark of the third term, Waterman with two of them, and Tom Barrass had a quarter for the ages in defence. WA opened the last quarter with the first four of the game – Jesse Hogan with three of them – and narrowed the margin to a kick. But Victoria, led by Daicos with a lazy 38 possessions, always had the answers.