AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has given the biggest hint yet that State of Origin football will be reintroduced in 2008 to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the game.

Speaking at the annual meeting between the AFL and the 16 club CEOs, Demetriou said he would like to see the return of State of Origin football and that it would make perfect sense for it to occur in 2008.

"From our perspective it is really desirable if we are celebrating 150 years of football next year that we have something to commemorate this great game on a national basis," Demetriou said.

"I can't think of anything better than having 98,000 people at the MCG celebrating the greatest game on earth."

State of Origin football hasn't been seen since 1999, when Kangaroos forward Brent Harvey won the EJ Whitten Medal as Victoria defeated South Australia in wet conditions at the MCG.

With conjecture still surrounding the best time for Origin matches to occur, Demetriou said that a sub-committee had been setup, which would discuss the finer details of the concept and hopefully announce the new plans for Origin within the next three to four weeks.

"We canvassed the various options around State of Origin, which included a carnival, having all the states and territories be involved, and a concept which involved a stand alone game," Demetriou said.

"If this game or this concept was to occur during the season, it may mean having two breaks during the season."

"If it was to be pre-season, then the question mark will revolve around do you have a traditional pre-season competition or do you have a condensed version."

"Those were the kind of options discussed but we didn't reach a conclusion."

Demetriou revealed that 11 of the 16 CEOs were in favour of Origin, and that an AFL Players Association survey found 86 per cent of players supported the concept.

"Overall there is a majority that supports the concept," Demetriou said.

"It is a long season at the moment and the overriding factor must be player welfare."