The State of Origin for Bushfire Relief Match was a one-off

all-star game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

between two

representative side In sports a national representative side or team is one that plays under the national name. The phrase is often used to indicate that the team is not the official main national team. Such unofficial or subsidiary teams are usually legitimate but ...

s organised by the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

to raise funds for recovery efforts following the

2019–20 Australian bushfire season The 201920 Australian bushfire season (Black Summer), was a period of bushfires in many parts of Australia, which, due to its unusual intensity, size, duration, and uncontrollable dimension, is considered a megafire. The Australian National ...

. The match was played on 28 February 2020 at

Marvel Stadium Docklands Stadium, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Melbourne Docklands, Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in O ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, between Victoria (the " Big V") and the " All-Stars", with a crowd of 51,052 in attendance. Victoria won the match by 46 points.

History

On 9 January, the AFL announced a one-off benefit match would be played on 28 February 2020, as a fundraiser for the relief effort for the

. The league donated $2.5 million to disaster relief funds in association with the match. Selection for the two teams was under

state of origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

rules, and it was the first interstate representative match featuring AFL-listed players since the

AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match The AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match was a one-off all-star game between two representative sides organised by the Australian Football League to celebrate the History of Australian rules football, 150th anniversary of Australian rules football. Th ...

held in 2008.

Teams

On 18 February the AFL announced 27-player teams for each of the Victoria and All-Stars side. All AFL teams had at least one player selected in one of the sides. The match was played with an extended

interchange bench Interchange (or, colloquially, the bench or interchange bench) is a team position in Australian rules football, consisting of players who are part of the selected team but are not currently on the field of play. Interchange numbers AFL As of t ...

of nine players instead of four. Three late changes were made to the side due to injuries between the initial team announcement and the game itself, with

Eddie Betts Edward Robert Betts III (born 26 November 1986) is a former Australian rules football player who played as a forward for Carlton and Adelaide in the Australian Football League. Betts was originally drafted by Carlton with pick No. 3 in the 2 ...

replacing

Dayne Zorko Dayne Zorko (born 9 February 1989) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). Zorko is a five-time Merrett–Murray Medallist and was selected in the 2017 All-Australian ...

in the All-Stars side and

Travis Boak Travis Boak (born 1 August 1988) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Boak List of Port Adelaide Football Club captains, captained the club from 2013 ...

and Andrew Gaff replacing

Robbie Gray Robert "Robbie" Gray (born 30 March 1988) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited with the 55th overall selection in the 200 ...

and Ben Cunnington for Victoria.

Damien Hardwick Damien Patrick Hardwick (born 18 August 1972) is an Australian rules football coach and former player. He is the senior coach of the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 2010, and has the longest continuous servi ...

and

John Longmire John Longmire (born 31 December 1970) is the current coach of the Sydney Swans. As a player, he represented the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1999. Early years Longmire was born in Corowa, ...

were announced as coaches of Victoria and the All-Stars, respectively, and were also primarily responsible for selecting players for their sides. Richmond captain

Trent Cotchin Trent William Cotchin (born 7 April 1990) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a Brownlow Medallist, an All-Australian, a three-time Richmond best and fairest ...

and Fremantle captain

Nat Fyfe Nathan Fyfe (born 18 September 1991) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He has served as Fremantle captain since the 2017 season. Fyfe is a dual Brown ...

were named to captain Victoria and the All-Stars, respectively.

Victoria

All-Stars

Best-on-ground award

The best-on-ground medal was awarded to

Dustin Martin Dustin Martin (born 26 June 1991) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Martin was drafted by Richmond with the third pick in the 2009 national draft, a ...

, who kicked two goals and had 23 disposals for Victoria.

Scorecard

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:State of Origin for Bushfire Relief Match Australian Football League Australian rules football games Australian rules football State of Origin

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

History of Australian rules football