North West AFL grand finalists Callum Ah Chee and Lawson Humphries to star in upcoming AFL Origin match

North West AFL stars Callum Ah Chee and Lawson Humphries have joined the WA squad for the upcoming AFL Origin match against Victoria at Optus Stadium on February 14. The two North West products went head-to-head in the 2025 grand final but will now play alongside each other on the same team. Former Wickham Wolves player Humphries managed 23 disposals and seven marks while nullifying Lions’ forward Charlie Cameron in the first half during the 2025 grand final clash. Ah Chee, who hails from Derby, followed up his four-goal run in the 2024 grand final in the Lions’ back line in 2025 with 17 disposals and six intercepts. Ultimately it was Ah Chee who took home the glory with his second premiership medal in as many years with the Lions, 18.14 (122) to 11.9 (75). Both Humphries and Ah Chee also played for the Indigenous All Stars team against the Fremantle Dockers at Optus Stadium on February 15 last year, where they took down Fremantle by 43 points, 16.12 (108) to 9.11 (65). It comes after Ah Chee left the Brisbane Lions to join the Adelaide Crows in November. Humphries continues to be one of the Geelong Cats’ most noteworthy young defenders. Ah Chee’s fellow Brisbane premiership teammate Brandon Starcevich also joins the WA side following Starcevich’s defection to West Coast in October. They are among seven inclusions in a 21-strong WA squad, alongside Melbourne utility Trent Rivers, Port Adelaide sharpshooter Mitch Georgiades, Western Bulldogs’ forward Rory Lobb and Gold Coast midfielder Wil Powell. Former Adelaide Crows captain and current assistant coach Nathan van Berlo has also been added to the coaching panel, joining WA and Sydney Swans head coach Dean Cox and Fremantle’s Justin Longmuir. Georgiades finished fifth in the Coleman Medal this season with 58 goals. Starcevich gives Cox flexibility and could even reprise his stopping role on veteran Geelong forward Patrick Dangerfield, who has been picked in the Victorian squad. Rivers can play in dual roles, across half-back or as a midfielder. He is expected to be a key plank of new coach Steven King’s new-look engine room after the departures of Clayton Oliver to GWS and Christian Petracca to Gold Coast. Rivers and fellow WA squad member Luke Jackson (Fremantle) are both products of Bullcreek Leeming Junior Football Club, who were picked up by the Demons in the 2019 national draft after they were teammates in the State’s 18s national championship victory. Another squad member, Sydney midfield gun Chad Warner, also played in that team. The selections follow the addition of nine players in early December which will reunite Melbourne 2021 flag teammates Kysaiah Pickett, Jackson and Rivers. West Coast’s Liam Baker was also named, giving him the opportunity to play alongside former Richmond premiership teammate Shai Bolton, along with Dockers’ All-Australian defender Jordan Clark, St Kilda winger Bradley Hill, dual Brisbane premiership forward Charlie Cameron, Collingwood ruck Darcy Cameron and GWS pair Jesse Hogan and Sam Taylor. Dual Brownlow medallist Patrick Cripps (Carlton), Bolton, Tom Barrass (Hawthorn), Aaron Naughton (Western Bulldogs) and Warner were among the first named in November. The remaining WA squad members are still to be announced, with Western Bulldogs ruck Tim English, key forwards Jake Waterman (West Coast), Shannon Neale (Geelong), Fremantle midfielder Jaeger O’Meara, Brisbane recruit and former Eagles captain Oscar Allen and veteran GWS midfielder Stephen Coniglio all in the mix. Victoria, which will be coached by Chris Scott with Sam Mitchell as assistant, has released a preliminary squad that is rich across all lines, led by veteran Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn and Western Bulldogs match winner Marcus Bontempelli. The Origin match marks the first time the AFL has hosted an Origin game after more than a quarter of a century ago in 1999, when Victoria played South Australia at the MCG.