The AFL is considering adding the Indigenous All Stars into a revamped State of Origin competition, 7NEWS Melbourne’s Xander McGuire has revealed.

Enthusiasm among club captains for the return of Origin is surging following the Indigenous team’s pre-season clash with Fremantle.

The league has watched the interest and appears ready to ramp up discussions with the various stakeholders.

Representative football has been a rarity in the modern era.

Victoria played an All Stars team to raise money for bushfire relief in 2020, while Victoria and a Dream Team clashed in 2008 to mark 150 years of Australian football.

Origin is certain to look different again if state-versus-state returns for the first time in nearly three decades.

One proposal includes the Indigenous All Stars featuring in a two-tiered system where they would face off against Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.

The remaining states and territories, rather than teaming up as an Allies force as in the past, could then play off in their own conference.

The All Stars proposal has backing from key figures, including Essendon legend Michael Long, who believes showcasing the All Stars regularly could play a pivotal role in increasing Indigenous involvement in footy.

“There’s genuine interest in creating another event,” AFL boss Andrew Dillon told 7NEWS.

“There is an appetite for representative football but there is plenty of consultation to undertake.”

Some of those talks already took place when the AFL hosted a dinner with the captains in Melbourne on Sunday night.

“We have to be mindful, it’s a demanding game and pre-season clearly contributes to that so to elongate that, we have to be mindful of the welfare of the players,” said Geelong captain and AFL Players’ Association president Patrick Dangerfield.

“We discussed timing and February was a high note amongst the players, where we think it could work.

“There’s obviously a fair bit to go in around that - you want availability, first and foremost the most important thing, you want the best players playing, and you don’t want to jeopardise their availability for the upcoming season for their teams.

“And you want crowd support, so if you can get those three ducks in a row, so if you can get that right, I think it would be great for the game.”

Carlton captain and reigning Brownlow medallist Patrick Cripps would be one of the first picked for a WA Origin team.

“I would 100 per cent play,” he said.

While Origin thrives in the NRL, one of the key reasons behind the AFL’s demise is that clubs did not want to risk injury to their stars.

As flagged by Dangerfield, February is a likely window for a revamped Origin competition.

“You’re going to be playing (club pre-season) games anyway so any time you train or that you’re going to have risk,” Cripps said of a pre-season representative game.

“I think if you’re ever going to have a time to do it it’s this time because you’re playing a lot of intra clubs or pre-season matches.

“Just watching the All Star game I thought the atmosphere was unbelievable.”

Collingwood captain Darcy Moore said the feedback from teammates Bobby Hill and Ash Johnson about the Indigenous All Stars had been encouraging.

“They loved it, got a lot out of it and the fan response was fantastic, and the crowd and the spectacle, and speaking to the AFL last night, they were super happy with it as well, so there’s definitely a path forward if we want to do it,” Moore said.

“Players are definitely open to it, given the right conditions, the timing, and, that sort of stuff and that the resources are put behind it to really set it up to succeed.

“Ultimately do the fans have an appetite for it? It seems that way, it seems like people are excited by the idea, so we’re definitely open to it.”

- with AAP