PAUL Roos says he’s supportive of State of Origin in theory, but is not sure if it can return in today’s era.

The Melbourne coach was one of Victoria’s greatest players, featuring in 14 matches from 1985-93, sitting behind just Dale Weightman (18) and Chris Langford (15) for the most Victorian State of Origin matches in the era from 1977-99.

Two of the game’s biggest names – Gary Ablett and Scott Pendlebury – recently threw their support behind the return, but Roos questioned whether the glory days could be revived.

“It’s something the players would love to be exposed to,” he told Dee TV’s Roos’ Views.

“I was really fortunate to play in a time where it was true State of Origin and it was true rivalry. It was the crossover into the expansion teams, when the Eagles came in

“But that was probably the death of it when the Eagles came in and the Adelaide teams, because it was really hard for the Eagles, because they had 15 players represented and then there was the injuries.

“My concern now is that it’s hard to manufacture the rivalry again, when you’ve got the Adelaide Crows playing and Port Power, and the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle – so you’ve got genuine State of Origin every single week.”

Roos understood exactly why today’s players wanted it to return, as he regarded it as one of his greatest football honours, but he simply wondered in what guise.

“Certainly, I can see why the great players would love to play it, because it was one of my great experiences – and anyone who played in that era,” he said.

“But it’s probably more: can you reproduce what happened back then? I just fear that you can’t and then you end up with something that maybe is really not what you set out to do.

“I’m supportive of it, but I think if it goes ahead, it’d be very, very difficult to recreate.”