Kerry Stokes awarded Life Membership of the AFL for his significant contribution to the game

Respected Australian businessman Kerry Stokes has been awarded Life Membership of the AFL for his significant contribution to the game, whose positive impact on the sport “will be felt for generations to come”.

AFL Commission chairman Richard Goyder, presenting the honour to the Seven West Media chairman at Thursday night’s official Origin opener at Crown Ballroom, said Mr Stokes was “one of football’s great supporters”.

He said from his earliest days growing up close to Arden Street where his love for North Melbourne blossomed, Mr Stokes was someone who had long understood what brings Australians together.

The Life Membership is an honour normally reserved for players who have passed the 300-game milestone or won three Brownlow medals.

“Kerry, you have said sport is the great unifier, and our game is a powerful part of Australia’s DNA and through your leadership you’ve backed innovation that helped bring footy into more homes, more towns and more hearts, from broadcast evolution, to showcase fixtures, to giving the audience deeper insight into the game and the people in it,” Mr Goyder said.

“You also believed in the AFLW from day one … and that matters. Right here in Western Australia, you have supported the WAFL, and all things WA footy for decades, playing a crucial role in the game’s strength and growth.

“Your contribution to Australian football has helped shape the game we love today and will be felt for generations to come.

“On behalf of everyone in our code, thank you.”

Mr Stokes was handed a Life Membership pin and certificate from AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon on the night.

Seven, which has been televising the game continuously since 2007, was the key partner in the richest broadcast deal in the history of Australian sport in 2022, signing off on a $4.5 billion contract that began in 2025 and ends in 2031.

The heavy hitters of Australian football slipped into cocktail suits on Thursday night for the official opener to AFL Origin, 17,659 days since the concept was born, on October 8, 1977, at Subiaco Oval.

From the league’s biggest stars — WA’s Chad Warner, Luke Jackson and Kysaiah Pickett alongside Victoria’s Nick Daicos, Matt Rowell and Patrick Dangerfield — to Mr Stokes, WA Premier Roger Cook and his deputy Rita Saffioti and the administrators behind the country’s biggest code, an industry that reaped more than $1 billion in revenue this year.

The 50-combined players from both teams, led by captains Bontempelli and Cripps, WA coach Dean Cox and his Victorian rival Chris Scott, adorned blazers in state colours before being presented with their playing jumpers on stage.

Mr Cook, speaking at the event gave the Victorian side a warm welcome to the State, but warned them a parochial 60,000-strong crowd may not be as embracing.

“We love our footy in Western Australia, we are a footy state,” he said.

“I’ll take you back to 1977, where a 12 year old local Tigers fan was immensely proud that Graham Moss, that legend of Claremont Football Club, was going to be the captain of the original WA team.

“And I remember the even greater pride the fact that we whooped the Victorians’ arse that particular year.

“. . . We know this is going to be a great day, we know this is going to be a great celebration of footy, and those 60,000 plus fans who will pack our Optus stadium, it will be such an incredible opportunity to really embrace one of the great traditions of AFL in Australia, and we are so proud to be at the forefront of bringing it back to the footy calendar.”

It will be the first official game played under state of origin rules since 1999 and the first WA-Victoria clash since 1992, the year West Coast won the first of its four premierships.

The cocky Victorians arrived in Perth on Wednesday night and trained together for the first time on Thursday at Mineral Resources Park.

Victoria chairman of selectors Garry Lyon, who on Thursday likened the elite 25-player Big V squad to “footy porn”, said Scott had left his players under no illusions over his expectations in Saturday’s sell out game at Optus Stadium.

“The first thing he said was ‘If you think this is a Mickey Mouse situation, then you’re in the wrong place’,” Lyon said.

The two proud football states have met 19 times, with Victoria holding a 12-7 advantage.

The brainchild of Subiaco Football Club marketing manager Leon Larkin, Origin was “born” on October 8, 1977 when a WA team led by Max Richardson, Ron Alexander and Graham Moss won by 94 points.

The Sandgropers were coached by late WA great Graham “Polly” Farmer. A cup named in his honour will be presented to the winning team by Farmer’s daughter Kim on Saturday night.

Moss will present the medal named in his honour to WA’s best player, while Ted Whitten Jnr will present Victoria’s best player with the EJ Whitten Medal, named after his late father Ted.

After a win over WA in 1990, Ted Whitten famously uttered the words: “Stuck it right up ’em! That’s what you did. You stuck it right up ’em.”

WA chairman of selectors Glen Jakovich, a decorated Origin player and dual premiership Eagle, will be hoping to say something similar after Saturday night’s big game.