Player and club buy-in for State of Origin remains as strong as ever despite the injury toll of the most recent representative match, insists AFL boss Andrew Dillon.
But the AFL could look at shorter quarters to help players handle the load of the high-octane pre-season match.
The AFL on Monday confirmed the future of Origin footy, with South Australia to return after 28 years and face Western Australia.
The rivalry will resume at Optus Stadium next year, before South Australia host Victoria at Adelaide Oval in 2029 and then Western Australia take on Victoria in Perth in 2030.
The fixture confirmation follows the return of the concept earlier this year, when Victoria beat WA in front of 58,141 fans at Optus Stadium.
Carlton star Jacob Weitering (fractured rib), GWS defender Sam Taylor (hamstring), Gold Coast's Brownlow Medallist Matt Rowell (broken finger), Adelaide recruit Callum Ah Chee (hamstring) and Port Adelaide forward Mitch Georgiades (hamstring) were all worse for wear after that game.
But it hasn't dimmed player enthusiasm, with WA chairman of selectors Glen Jakovich saying he'd been inundated with calls from players and their managers wanting to be a part of it.
"Look, the clubs have been amazing and so have the players, obviously," Dillon said on Monday.
"But I think we know, unfortunately, that injuries are part of AFL football and they can happen at any time.
"If you think back to February 14, it was one or two days before that, in a training session, Tom Green from the Giants did his knee.
"So players can get injured at any time and I think what our players do love is that ability to come together, represent their states and perform at the highest level."
The game itself could be shortened to help manage player loads.
"What we'll see is there'll be a different build-up for the players, and we'll work through what's actually best for the game and best for the players," Dillon said.
"And if that meant shortening the quarter slightly, then we'll definitely look at that.
"That's part of the feedback that we've got, but we'll deal with the experts, the high-performance teams of all of the clubs. They'll be the ones that we'll take the advice from."
The return of South Australia means the likes of Lachie Neale, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, Jordan Dawson and Jason Horne-Francis could feature in the Origin arena for the first time.
Players only had a short camp ahead of this year's match and that lead-in could be extended to give them more time together in their respective teams.
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"No-one really knew what the game was going to be like and what we saw was actually footy at its finest," Dillon said.
"The players, they loved the opportunity earlier this year, and ... we've got good feedback in relation to length of game, squad sizes.
"Actually, one of the best bits of feedback we got was the players wanted to spend more time together as a group.
"So we'll take all that on board. This concept works when the players buy in, because when the players buy in the clubs buy in. And that means it's great for the fans."
AFL'S ORIGIN FUTURE:
* 2027 - Western Australia v South Australia at Optus Stadium * 2028 - South Australia v Victoria at Adelaide Oval * 2029 - Western Australia v Victoria at Optus Stadium
