AFL clubs would never give enough support to make a revived State of Origin series feasible, according to the sport’s supremo Gillon McLachlan.

With rugby league’s mouthwatering interstate battle between NSW and Queensland growing bigger and more popular every year, many Aussie Rules fans have asked why they can’t have a similar showdown once again.

Various AFL Origin series were run for more than 20 years - with over 91,000 supporters at the MCG to watch Victoria take on South Australia in 1989 – but attendances slowly dwindled before the event was scrapped in 1999.

And AFL chief executive McLachlan has poured cold water on the suggestions that such a competition could be restored, given the fact that many teams simply wouldn’t want their star players involved.

“I would love to see it, as a guy who grew up in South Australia watching Tony Hall kick a checkside on the run from 50 metres," McLachlan told 3AW radio.

"I know a lot of our supporters would. I get it - we'd love to do it, too. But our clubs are so strong and so tribal and so powerful that they protect their players. And if you don't have every player available for State of Origin, as soon as you have one or two of the best guys not playing, I think it's hard."

Essendon skipper Dyson Heppell has backed calls for an Origin series in AFL, but admits another big stumbling block is finding time for extra games in an already hectic schedule.

“It's a tough one trying to fit in, but I think that it would be something that players really get around," Heppell told SEN radio. "I guess clubs may differ, and it may not be seen in the future."