A familiar figure sporting the Maroon polo in the back of the Queensland coaches box sparked a mini-social media frenzy on Wednesday night. 

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge was invited into the Queensland camp as observer last week during the opening game of the NRL State of Origin series in Brisbane through a connection with the Club’s coaches partner, EML.

Speaking to media at Victoria University Whitten Oval on Monday, Beveridge said it was a great experience to be a part of the concept as a ‘fly on the wall’, but you won’t hear him calling for a return of State games closer to home.

"As a coach you prefer your players don't play Origin because selfishly you've got them at club land for the whole journey," he said.

“But from a players perspective that’s a great achievement to play for your state.  I'm a little bit impartial but I don't know we can ever go back to that." 

Beveridge, however, does support the International Rules Series, which is scheduled to return for a two-Test series in November.

The last time teams representing the AFL and Ireland’s GAA faced off was in 2015 for a single game, but the hybrid game will again take centre stage over the weekends of November 11 and 18, this year.

"I still love the fact that players get to play in the green and gold jersey against the Irish," he said. "That's really important that we continue to pursue that.

"But yeah, I'm not sure on Origin."