Black Swans captain Leigh Kitchin hopes state footy lives on as his side looks to regain Haydn Bunton Jnr Cup

Western Australian captain Leigh Kitchin hopes it’s not the last time he gets to represent the Black Swans when he leads them against South Australia at Optus Stadium on Sunday. The WAFL and SANFL are the only two states left standing in the annual state fixture, with Victoria pulling out after their historic loss on home soil to WA in 2017 and the VFL restructuring all but ensuring there is no longer the possibility of naming a Queensland side. Kitchin, who will represent WA for the seventh time, said there was still a place for the annual fixture and hoped other states could still join down the track. “I think it would be a shame not to have State football still a part of the fixture for the SANFL and the WAFL,” he said. “It’d be great to have the other states involved again. “I’d love to see it continue. It’s something I know the players take pride in and it’d be great to see heaps of West Australians there getting behind the game because it is important for us.” WA will look to regain the Haydn Bunton Jnr Cup and take an overall advantage, with both sides having 48 wins since the first meeting in 1904. Kitchin and his side were thumped by 53 points at the Adelaide Oval last year, giving them extra motivation for Sunday’s match. “It’s always exciting to be involved in the game, but there’s probably a little bit extra in terms of coming off the back of a pretty lacklustre performance from us last year,” Kitchin said. “I think with that consistency with playing them every year, you get to know the makeup of their team, although the lists are going to change from year to year, you get to know certain players there. “Before that, you might play each other once every four years, but now you’re fronting up and playing each other every year, so I think it does build that rivalry and probably intensifies it a bit.” WA have named a dozen state debutants for the clash, while Hamish Brayshaw and Corey Byrne could increase that tally should they be called upon after being named as emergencies. “It’s an interesting situation with our debutants because most of them have played 50, 100, 150 games of WAFL footy,” Kitchin said. “It’s a unique sort of debutant. “They’re really experienced, they just haven’t had the chance to play state footy, so there the kind of guys you know are going to take the opportunity and give it everything. They’re there for one reason and that’s to win the game for WA.”