History
Victorian representative teams have participated in games against other Australian states since the 1870s. Originally these games were played between teams representing the major leagues of each state. For Victoria this meant the Victorian Football Association and the Victorian Football League. Between 1976 and 1999 senior state football was played under State of Origin rules.
The first inter-colonial representative game of football was played between Victoria and South Australia in 1879 with teams made up of Victorian Football Association and South Australia Football Association players.
These 'inter-league' matches came to be viewed as the highest tier of Australian Football, with each state's ultimate goal being that of beating Victoria. The most important of these games were the Carnival games that were played intermittently between 1908 and 1993, Victoria winning 13, and coming runners-up in another 9. Some of these carnivals were competed by both the Victorian Football League and Victorian Football Association representative teams. The VFL team was generally regarded as the stronger of the two.
The final senior level State of Origin game, participated in by AFL players was played in 1999, with Victoria beating South Australia by 54 points. Since this game, all Victorian representative teams, except the team that participated in the 2008 AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match, have consisted of VFL players, competing against players of other state leagues.
Read more about this topic: Victoria Australian Rules Football Team
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