The new version of AAMI AFL Origin also needs its figureheads. Back in the day, the legendary Ted Whitten was Victoria’s tour de force. In 2026, it is GARRY LYON. He discussed his passion for the Big V with AFL Record editor ASHLEY BROWNE.

ASHLEY BROWNE: Tell us about your first State game.

GARRY LYON: It was over in Perth against Western Australia. It was 1988 and it was a pretty stacked team of superstars. I couldn't believe I was playing in it. I had a few kicks early, and I’ve told this Greg Williams story a couple of times. I got out into some space, he kicked the ball to me. I was on my own and I just went to take an easy mark but the ball came that quick it went through my hands. I was that embarrassed I got taken off the ground, but thankfully I got back on, did okay and that was the first of nine or 10 (10 Origin games), of which I loved every minute.

AB: They say the training (sessions) were daunting, let alone the first game, with the ball whizzing around and never hitting the ground.

GL: That is true. The training is awesome and this is why I’m so excited it’s back. You just turn up and roll into a changeroom, and you have your own routine and going to training is not that big a deal. But all of a sudden you’re going to training with the best of the best, the superstars and your idols and guys you’ve watched all your life. You’ve got to fight your own natural inclination to go into your shell. That’s what I felt like anyway, to just sit there and observe. But then I thought, ‘you get to training and you’ve got to try and be a leader; that’s what you’re there for’. The skill level was unbelievable, and then a couple guys would crack a joke at training. Roosy (Paul Roos) was always one that loved having a joke, and you thought, ‘geez, this is one of the greatest players of all time, and he’s having a bit of a laugh’. It’s okay to laugh and do all the different things you picked up. Gary Ablett didn’t know a hell of a lot of the players.

AB: Who drove the drove Big V culture when you played?

GL: Gerard Healy was one of the dominant voices. Simon Madden, ‘Flea’ (Dale) Weightman was always great. Diesel (Greg Williams) was great, as was Chris Langford. I remember Andrew Bews being a really important part of it, because, as I said, there is the inclination, to sort of come in there and be a bit modest and not want to be themselves. It’s important to break the ice, and ‘Bewsy’ was always great like that.

AB: Have you looked for a couple of alpha males in the squad you put together?

GL: Yeah, I think they emerge, but I’m conscious of the fact you do need those sorts of blokes. We didn’t go out to pick them deliberately, but you know who Toby Greene, Paddy Dangerfield and Max Gawn are, and they will be that sort of person. But I’m really interested to see how Hugh McCluggage, Sam Darcy and Maxy Holmes and these boys sort of walk in and see how they fit into it all and what sort of approach they take to it. That’ll be really, really fascinating.

AB: What was the best game you played in?

GL: There were some really great close games. Probably the best game was over in South Australia in 1994 when we lost by a couple of points. But the most significant one was the one at the MCG in 1989. State footy was on its knees at the time and we’d played away a lot. Then they brought it back to the MCG, they had a weekend off club footy. Before the game, we went into the old VFL House for a meeting, then walked out to walk across to the ground, and there were just people everywhere. There ended up being 91,000 people. That day was just extraordinary.

AB: Off the field, how important were the likes of Ted Whitten and Ron Barassi on the teams you played in?

GL: Well, Ted was who Ted was. I went through the whole gamut with Teddy. I went in as a wide-eyed young kid and just looked at him and was scared. But by the end of that, I knew exactly what he was doing and what he was trying to achieve, and I am ever grateful that I was able to witness it. He was superb. Just having Ron Barassi and Bobby Skilton walking around the joint a bit later in the piece was just unbelievable. Those guys were more excited than anyone else about it, because they lived it and played it and had their carnivals and all that. They had their great rivalries and they wanted to impress that upon us. Thankfully, we went through an era where it was really big, and hopefully we can go through that again with these guys.

AB: Do you plan to bring any of the old timers through in the lead-up to the game?

GL: Any Victorian player would be welcome, of course, if they’re over there, to come into the rooms. We may lean upon one or two, it hasn’t been discussed. But when the ‘Bont’ (Marcus Bontempelli) was picked and when Nick Daicos was picked, they did the press conferences. I went along and I had good chats with them and what I learned from both of them was how keen they were to understand the history; about what it was like and how they want that to be conveyed. From those boys (at least) there’s a sense that they want to understand it. If there was a chance for one or two others (to speak to them), it’d be great.

AB: What do you think was the start of a decline of state footy?

GL: Probably the national competition, when suddenly you’ve got a couple of South Australian sides and a couple of West Australian sides, the mystique of playing a game over in Western Australia or South Australia wasn’t as big as it once was. And the players themselves, I think those who had played a bit felt they’d been there, done that. They were the real drivers of it. It was a combination of things, and then the clubs became protective of their players, which I get, and probably didn’t go out of their way to encourage them to get involved. I think all those things combined to put a bit of a nail in it.

AB: Are you surprised we’re having this conversation talking about state footy again, or did you think it was dead?

GL: I thought it was gone. I’ve always been a huge advocate, but I sort of stopped campaigning for it for quite a while because I just thought it was gone. Then I watched a few of those NSW-Queensland Origin (rugby league) games and got jealous and did a couple of rants on radio. Then every player we interviewed, or every coach – not so much coach, (but) player – I asked them off air, ‘what do you reckon?’ I just got this overwhelming sense that there was a real enthusiasm for it. So I said, ‘the only way this is coming back is if you’d like to drive it, and if it does come back we can’t have 15 of the best players not playing. You’ve got to all be all in or not’. And the indications are that they’re all in. And it’s been unbelievable that the phone calls and the text messages I’ve had with these blokes who are playing, there has not been a single guy who has said no to the opportunity to play. There’s injuries, that’s taken into account, so I’m sure we’re going to lose one or two or three between now and the game, but that was always going to be the case. But I don’t think there’s been a single player we’ve approached who hasn’t said ‘geez, I’m desperate’. In fact, the lobbying was unbelievable by the players. I was getting direct phone calls from players or player managers, club CEOs, they’re all pushing the case for their players, which was awesome.

AB: The players deserve a lot of credit because they own this as much as old blokes like you.

GL: Yeah, they do. That’s the only way it was going to work again, if they all said yes. When you look through the squad, both our squad and theirs, it’s awesome to think that for four or five days, these boys are going to play under one banner, one jumper. And the experiences they’ll get out of it is the experiences I got out of it when I played.

AB: How much have you enjoyed being the Ted Whitten of 2026?

GL: I’m not EJ, no chance of that. But I’ve enjoyed being a voice for it, and more than anything I’ve loved the shared enthusiasm from the players and the coaches. The coaches have been awesome as well. Scotty (coach Chris Scott) has been great. And (assistant coach) Sam Mitchell as well. I can’t wait to get the boys all together and see them train for the first time in a big V jumper. Look at Lachie Ash – a young kid who grew up in Shepparton and he’s been interstate his whole career. He’s going to come back and represent his state.

AB: Footy fans are smart. What do we want to see in the first 15 minutes of the game to know this is a fair dinkum game of footy?

GL: I haven’t even got a question about that. I haven’t even got one concern that this won’t be anything other than an absolutely ultra-competitive game. Halfway through the last quarter, if one team is 40 points up, there might be some mucking around by one or two of them, but I think you’re going to see a super-competitive game, because in the end, the Victorians want to establish themselves as the best squad of players in the country and Western Australia will probably go in as underdogs and I’m pretty sure they’re getting jacked up about it. They’re winding them up over there to try and stick it to us. So I think that’s going to make for a pretty competitive game.

AB: Teddy’s catchphrase was, ‘you stuck it right up ’em!’ What will yours be if the Vics get up?

GL: I don’t dare try to emulate the great EJ. I will just be there supporting and I’ll be a very happy man if Sunday night comes around and the Big V have prevailed. That would be a very good result.

This article appears in the AFL Origin edition of the AFL Record, on sale now at newsagents, Coles and Woollies supermarkets in Melbourne and on Saturday night at Optus Stadium for $6.