Vic Country v Vic Metro: Is this a better match up than Victoria and Western Australia?

And let's be real, historically several VFL/AFL carnivals have always had a Vic Country team as part of them going back to schoolboy carnivals, the now defunct Teal Cup and the current AFL talent pathways.

As far back as 1928, a representative match between the VFL and the Ovens & Murray FNL took place on Saturday, 16 June 1928, at Wangaratta. The combined VFL team eventually won a closely contested game by 7 points, with the final score being 16.15 (111) to 15.14 (104).

This could be seen as payback for when a combined Ballarat Football Association team defeated a VFL rep team 13.11 (89) to 8.6 (54) way back in 1897, the very foundation year of the VFL! So the country boys have always had bragging rights.

So with the announcement of the upcoming 2026 State of Origin match it got me thinking that given that 10 of the 21 Vic's named in the squad so far come from Victorian country football beginnings, who would win if we went to a Vic Country v Vic Metro clash? So to do so I’ve picked 2 sides to represent the city and the bush.

The process of putting these teams together was relatively simple. To be selected a player had to:
- be named in the 2026 Victorian State of Origin squad,
- be part of the the 2025 AFL All Australian side or squad

The rest of the positions were filled with other players who had outstanding 2025 seasons with those additional selections made by using the players season position, rating and other season statistics as indicated in the stats section of afl.com.au to justify their position in the side. In the case in of the Metro team, this meant they had 10 midfielders, so some hard call ahd to be made, rather than just try and fit them all in

Each team consists of:
- 3 key defenders
- 3 defenders
- 2 wingmen and a centre
- 1 ruck, ruck rover and rover
- 3 key forwards
- 3 forwards

The interchange is made up of 2 extra midfielders, 1 forward, 1 defender and 1 ruck to round out the teams.

Naturally for players in the VIc Country side, players had to have started at an AFL Vic aligned league/club before being drafted. Now there may be controversial selections in the squad, namely to do with the players origins and whether they are Victorian or not. So just to be clear to qualify, a player needs to originally be drafted from:
- a Victorian country football club
- a New South Wales club that plays in an AFL Victoria affiliated country league. (e.g Todd Marshall)

For reference, AFL Victoria affiliated leagues that include NSW based clubs are:
- Central Murray FNL
- Golden Rivers FNL
- Murray FNL
- Ovens & Murray FNL
- Sunraysia FNL
- Upper Murray FNL

Also, there are always arguments made that leagues such as Geelong FNL, the Mornington Peninsula Nepean FNL and the Outer East FNL should not be included in a ‘country’ team. Whilst they are significant population centres and located much closer to the city now than in years gone past, they are under the auspices of AFL Vic Country, so they fit our criteria.

Other anomalies such as Josh Battle who was drafted from Doveton FNC who were in the Outer East FNL at the time he was drafted, but are now in a different league, are also considered as selectable.

The teams, as I’ve picked them, are as below, trying as much as possible to keep players in similar positions to what they would regularly play, with a couple of exceptions

So who would win? I think both teams are evenly matched, and in my opinion:

• The Country team has a better backline than their Metro counterparts
• Both forwards are evenly matched
• The Metro team has an edge of class in the midfield.

But hey, these are just my opinions!

You can have a go at being a selector and continue to a ‘fans' selected Vic Country team that will be announced prior to the AFL State of Origin match on February 14th by using this link: 

We’d love to see who makes your Vic Country team for 2026!