But then the AFL does not listen to my advice. Ticket sales in Melbourne have been slow. Some reports say only 5000 have been sold, despite the low prices. The AFL estimates there are 17,000 South Australians on the way to the MCG today. They have the Victorians as red-hot favorites, a ranking neither Walls or his captain Garry Hocking who ignored club advice to rest his bad knee believes is appropriate.
Cornes is quite happy to have the underdog status.
Today they will parade past SA and Victorian captains and coaches before what will be mourned as perhaps the last Origin match of all time. Unlike the defensive nature of club football, Origin promises a free-running game without too much emphasis on tactics. But with Walls whom Cornes says is not given appropriate recognition for the way he enhanced the VFL in the 1980s with set plays and who lifted Brisbane to its first final series in 1995 with imaginative tactics it could never be just a simple game. His runners will get no peace as Walls shunts players from spot to spot to find more productivity. Hopefully, the Victorians will appreciate the moment.