WESTERN Australia defender Jordan Clark looks set to take his place in Saturday night's AAMI AFL Origin clash after escaping injury as the WA squad declared it was "all in" on reviving state football with a spirited performance against Victoria.
Clark suffered an injury scare while training with Fremantle this week, leaving the ground dejected after appearing to tweak an ankle during a match simulation session on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old joined his WA teammates on Wednesday night, however, to ramp up preparations for Saturday's clash against Victoria before taking part in the squad's entire 90-minute session on Thursday and moving well at Mineral Resources Park.
The WA squad trained with plenty of spirit under the watch of coach Dean Cox, with defender Nathan Broad declaring the team would not pull back because of the risk of injury in a game that it is taking seriously.
"There's risks every day with training, there's risks in intraclub games, and at the end of the day, it's a game of football and representing our state," Broad said.
"No one's going to take the foot off. I think we have a responsibility. It's been 28 years since Origin, and a lot of commentary around that players are going to take it easy and bruise-free football.
"That's not how we're going about it. If this is going to be a thing going forward, it's got to be all in, and we're all in. You'll see first bounce on Saturday."
Broad said the WA group was yet to delve into a specific gameplan for Saturday night and had instead focused on connecting as a group and building a common purpose ahead of the first Origin match since 1999.
WA teammate Brad Hill said it was an honour to represent the state, 12 months after playing for the Indigenous All Stars, and he hoped the concept of state football would take off again.
"The players would love to play it every year, whether it's State of Origin or there's an All Stars team versus State of Origin," Hill said.
"Either way, representing your state is an awesome concept and we missed it for so long. We're very excited to put it back on the big stage and every year it would be pretty cool to do."
Hill said there was "more tension and a bit more on the line" this year in the state-versus-state clash, compared to the All Stars game against Fremantle last year.
While the Victorian midfield is stacked with elite talent, the St Kilda winger highlighted the speed and balance in WA's squad and declared the underdogs would hold their own in the engine room.
"Obviously, their team is pretty packed with a lot of All-Australians in there … but there's a lot of players I'm really excited to play with [for WA]," Hill said.
"Crippa (Patrick Cripps) has been one of the big names and he's represented our state for such a long time and at such a high level. He's captain for us, and I'm pretty excited to run out under him.
"The way he plays footy, hopefully he can bring all of us along and attack the game and have a real crack.
"We've got Crippa and (Chad) Warner, so we'll be right, and then we get 'Kozzy' (Kysaiah Pickett) to swing through. I think we'll be able to hold our own."