Maddox offered qualified support, indicating the timing is right for a return to the ‘representative derby.

“It’d be good to see (Riverina v Farrer) again as we haven’t done it for a fair while now and when we did it last, it was in a carnival of shortened games,” Maddox said. 

“It’d be good to get a gauge of where the two teams are at now. Get two full-strength sides and have a real crack.”

But Maddox warned against an annual match, believing the competitions should also aim to be tested against other regions.

“It’d be good for the local region but I don’t think you could do it every year. I’d be happy for it to be played every three or four or five years,” he said.

Absolum captained the Farrer League to victory against Ovens and King League this year. 

He has previously represented the Riverina League in wins against Canberra and Sydney teams but believes a local derby will rejuvenate players who haven’t been keen on the rep scene, or on travelling to play.

“Definitely, I think you’d find more interest from the players,” Absolum said.

“I think if it was in Wagga, against the RFL, players would be keen and the next year they’d probably follow up again even if you’re playing somewhere else.

“There’s always that argument between the two comps about who’s better and who’s tougher. So it wouldn’t be a bad way to settle a few arguments.”

The initial call from Farrer League president David Oehm and coach Ryan Forsyth generated support.

More than 66% percent of respondents to a poll by The Daily Advertiser said the leagues should play each other while Turvey Park coach Truman Carroll suggested on Twitter that it would draw a crowd and ticks all the boxes.

Maddox agrees that pride would be a pretty big motivator.

“Obviously the RFL never wants to get beaten by the Farrer League so you’d want to be putting a strong side out there,” Maddox said.

Maddox personally was a fan of the two leagues taking on Victorian opposition, as happened in 2014 and 2015, to see how they stack up. 

And although Riverina was outgunned by an AFL Canberra team this year, Maddox said it challenged players meaning there was plenty of merit in the contest.

“Canberra was a good test,” he said. “We had a pretty good side. They were red-hot, they played a pretty good team brand of footy and looked like they’d been training together for a while. We only had three training runs. But it sparks new interest (from players), playing an AFL Canberra. If you’re playing the Farrer League all the time it mightn’t be that way.”