SEVENTEEN years into his AFL career, Michael Walters will play for the Indigenous All Stars for the first time.

Not only that, but the Fremantle champion will captain the side in its clash against the Dockers on Saturday. 

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"2013, 2015 I got injured leading into it, but to have this opportunity to play in it, but then also to lead the team, is something that at the back end of my career I'm going to look back on and be proud of it," Walters told AFL.com.au.

"It's definitely one of those games that I've always wanted to play."

Affectionately known as 'Sonny', Walters is working closely with Fremantle's Next Generation Academy coach and former player Roger Hayden in the All Stars camp, with the latter named as an assistant coach for the specially selected squad.

"He's my little brother. I saw him the first day he rocked up at the club," Hayden said of Walters.

"He fought through a lot of setbacks in his early days, and once he got through that, his career has been unbelievable. So, for him to go through that adversity and realign himself and become the player and person that his is now, credit to him and his family.

"Well deserved to be in the leadership role with the All Stars, and I can't be more proud."

There is also a sense of pride from the pair that their club, the Dockers, is the chosen opposition for the Indigenous All Stars. Fremantle's long, and consistent, history of Indigenous players includes both Walters and Hayden, and was a key reason for the club's involvement.

Across the Dockers' history, 36 men and 11 women of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent have featured in the iconic purple guernsey. Walters, with 239 games to his name, is just five games away from breaking Michael Johnson's record of 244 games, the most by an Indigenous player at the club. 

"Freo has always had that rich history of Indigenous players, I think we hold the record for the most playing in the one game, and that's something that I'm truly proud of," Walters said.

"I'm a one-club player. Got drafted to Freo when I was 17, and to still be here 17 years later is unreal, and I've seen a lot of players come in and out of the system. But the one thing that the club's always been good at is picking up those Indigenous players, whether they're Indigenous Australian or also multicultural."

As part of the showcase match, Fremantle will don its inaugural Indigenous guernsey, initially worn back in 2013. The guernsey was designed by Hayden himself and his uncle, Dr Richard Walley.

"It's pretty special thinking about it," Hayden said.

"I was taken aback by it, to see the boys running around with it yesterday during training and had a few photos and had to talk about it to the group and what it meant to me and my family.

"Just to be part of this, and on both sides, it's going to be something special."

Now, with the squad settled together for the first time, the expectation is a free-flowing, attacking spectacle on Saturday.

"We are entertainers, so there's no doubt that there's going to be a lot of boys running forward," Walters laughed.

"We do know that when the ball is in defence, it seems like the oval's turned into a hill, so it's hard to run up it. But I dare say it's going to be an attacking game from both teams. Freo has a lot of players that will run off half-back as well, so there's no doubt that all of us should have our running boots on."