West Coast’s Liam Baker has dared Victoria to pick Eagles teammate Harley Reid for next year’s AFL Origin at Optus Stadium hoping they can renew an intense in-house rivalry in the February 14 encounter.

Baker and Reid are regular combatants at Eagles match simulation, with the pair trading bone-jarring tackles.

“I was chatting to him yesterday about it. It’d be good to see him out there and hopefully he gets picked. He’s one of the most exciting players in the comp, even though he’s played two years of footy,” Baker said.

“If he’s out there and we’ve already had a little chat we’ll have a bit of fun out there, I reckon, try get one on each other. Obviously, I’ll be fighting a losing battle there.”

Baker is set for his ninth AFL season but has not worn a WA jumper since he played in the national championships with the State 18s.

“I’m missing out on an intra-club so it’s a pretty big hit-out to prepare for an AFL season,” Baker said of the Origin game.

“It’s a different team, different opposition. I want to prepare to play my best for West Coast and if that’s having a red hot crack, I’m sure the other boys are thinking the same thing.

“Blokes like Loosh (Jake Waterman) and Reuben (Ginbey) maybe and Starc (Brandon Starcevich)... fingers crossed they get the call-up because they are pretty keen to play.”

Baker joined the likes of Luke Jackson, Jordan Clark and Charlie Cameron in being added to WA’s squad this week as he attempts to lead the Black Swans to what would be an upset result.

“I don’t think it’s like it was back in the day, you know, that actual hatred of what it sounded like,” Baker said.

“But we’ll try and chirp it up a bit on the way to the game. Hopefully they’re keen to get into it as much as we are.”

Asked whether the expected sell-out crowd could expect a contested game or NBA-style All-Star shootout, Baker said it may be a blend of the two.

“It’s a contested game these days but exciting on the outside. I think there will be a bit of both. We are preparing for our own seasons as well and you don’t want to miss a hit out,” he said.

“They’re coming over here. I know what they’re like. They don’t like coming over here. It’s too far for them.

“Our home turf and we’ll have a good crowd there. Our speed on the outside, there’s Kosi (Pickett), Charlie, Shai already in the team. Yeah, good luck to them.”

Baker said he had a hamstring “niggle” that had restricted him to light running at pre-season training, but would be back on the track after Christmas.

A captaincy candidate following the departure of Oscar Allen, alongside incumbent Liam Duggan, Baker said he had not thought about leading the team.

“It hasn’t really been discussed or thought about, really, but yeah, offer obviously Oscar left, Duggo is our skipper at the moment. I’m sure it will say stay the same way leading into the season,” he said.

Bolton said he was “super excited” to play alongside his Richmond premiership teammate Baker again.

“I played State 18s and it kind of feels like that again,” the Fremantle forward said.

“I haven’t played with most of them … (Patrick) Cripps I haven’t played with him before, Brownlow medallist, he’s an absolute gun.

“We’ve got a lot of speed in there, so hopefully we’ll go alright.”

A forward at the Dockers who is regularly swung into the midfield by coach Justin Longmuir – who will be Dean Cox’s right-hand man in the Origin coach’s box – Bolton said he would happy to play wherever he’s needed.

“I don’t really mind, to be honest. I’ll play forward, maybe a little bit of mid if I can, but there’s a lot of midfielders in there,” Bolton said.

Bolton and Baker played together in Richmond’s back-to-back premierships in 2019 and 2020.

“Obviously me and Shai have played together a fair bit previously, so that’s going to be exciting, I can’t wait for that reuniting,” Baker said.

“Some of these guys who you grew up watching like Crippa and (Jesse) Hogan, they’ve been around a while, so playing with those boys will be exciting.

“But it will be good to put the jumper on again. It’s been a while now, probably close to 10 years since we played in State 18s.”

Bolton said he hoped to see a “full house”.

“It’s good that it’s here on our home turf. We want to to get as many fans as we can and get them behind us and hopefully get the win for them,” he said.

“I was just talking to like Luke Jackson and he was telling me he can’t wait to play. Get into the Victorian boys. We want to get the bragging rights over them.”