TRISTAN Xerri had given up on his AAMI AFL Origin aspirations for 2026.

The North Melbourne big man thought all the spots had been filled in the Victorian squad, with Melbourne champion Max Gawn taking a sole ruck position.

He very nearly let Joel Selwood's call go through to voicemail, given it was an unknown number.

But the AFL football performance lead was calling Xerri to let him know there were still four spots on offer for the squad.

"I got the call on Friday. I was just at home in the gym doing some weights, and Joel gave me the call and let me know. It was pretty surreal, because I thought they'd already picked all the players for the squad," Xerri told AFL.com.au.

"I was pretty surprised, but I was super pumped, because I knew some of the players already in the squad, and I knew how lucky I am to get the opportunity.

Tristan Xerri and Max Gawn compete in a ruck contest during the match between Melbourne and North Melbourne at the MCG in round 18, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

"Like you see the list, and that would have been pretty cool to represent Victoria, but at the same time, Max Gawn along with everyone else in that squad is pretty talented, so I couldn't dwell on it that much. But to get the call and to be able to potentially play alongside him is pretty special.

"I didn't have Joel's number in my phone book, and thought it might have been one of the boys actually calling to annoy me, so I actually almost didn't pick up for that very reason, and lucky I did, because I got to speak to him in person rather than him telling me over voicemail or something."

Xerri, the sole North Melbourne representative, is looking forward to reuniting with former Western Jets teammate Zak Butters in the Victorian squad.

"Looking at the squad, it's pretty surreal. Garry Lyon (chairman of selectors) sent me a message the other night to congratulate me, and he started listing some of the players who will be running around through the midfield, and it's going to be pretty special to play alongside them," he said.

"Zak is obviously doing well for himself now, so I'm pretty excited to partner back up with him. Haven't played with anyone else before, but I've played against them all, which I don't really enjoy, so I'm excited to play with them."

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Xerri is confident the new ruck rule interpretation – where rucks cannot cross the centre line before engaging with their opponent, an attempt to minimise wrestling and encourage jumping – shouldn't have too big an effect on his game.

"It's obviously a new change, and there's a lot of different ruckmen out there and I'm sure it'll suit some more than others. But I'm not too fazed by it," he said.

"We've had umpires at our training sessions, weekly. So I've picked their brain a bit about the new rule, how they're going to interpret it along with our ruck coaches and other ruckmen at training.

"It was only a couple of years ago where everyone was jumping anyway, so it's nothing really new to us, it's sort of only recently that the rucks have gone away from it. It's just about rewiring the brain, really."