BRETT Goodes wishes he had applied himself better as a teenager.Now 24-years-old, he wonders what might have been had he taken his football more seriously in his under-age days.The North Ballarat Rooster wears the Big V for the first time today - lining up for the Victorian Football League against the SANFL at the Adelaide Oval.Goodes said he missed the final cut for the Victorian country under-16 team."And I didn't get as fit as I should have in the under-18s," pondered the younger brother of Sydney Swans dual Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes, who wore the Big V in the AFL Hall of Fame."I've done the work and now I'm playing," he said.Goodes is one of five North Ballarat players in the team under the guidance of Selkirk Roosters coach Gerard FitzGerald to face the Croweaters.He is joined by Orren Stephenson, Tom Roach, Michael Searl and Jacob Spolding.While it is his first interstate match, the surroundings for one of the biggest moments in his football career are familiar to Goodes.After finishing with the North Ballarat Rebels in 2002, he spent a year with Port Adelaide in the SANFL before returning to Victoria to line up with the Roosters. While Adam Goodes stated before the state-of-origin match that he considered himself more South Australian than Victorian - although he grew up in the Wimmera and was drafted from North Ballarat Rebels - Brett does not share the thoughts of his brother going into battle against SA."I see Victoria as home," he said.Like Goodes, Roach also has a strong family link with the Big V.His father Michael, who played 200 games with Richmond from 1977 to 1989, also represented Victoria.Once state-of-origin came though, Roach lined up for Tasmania.The interstate match will be televised on ABC-TV from 2pm.