A SOBERING trip to fire-ravaged Kangaroo Island reinforced Brodie Grundy's passion to support the cause in the State of Origin for Bushfire Relief game at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.

Collingwood's star ruckman, who will lead the All-Stars ruck division against Victoria, last week visited Kangaroo Island - a regular childhood holiday destination for the big South Australian - and was shocked by the devastation. 

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"To get back there and experience what it's been like for the community over on Kangaroo Island was really significant. It's easy to sit in your comfortable TV loungeroom and watch it, but until you're out there and you can taste the ash in the air and see the regrowth starting to come through, it really starts to bring it home," Grundy told reporters on Wednesday at the Country Fire Authority's headquarters in Burwood East.

"To come through into (the charity game) this week and what it's all about, I'm really honoured to be a part of it … It's really humbling."

The AFL's premier ruckman hopes the event will be a raging success to breathe new life into the State of Origin concept and keep alive his ambition of representing South Australia at senior level.

"It'll be a good spectacle and if the feedback is really positive, who knows what it could mean for State of Origin in the future," he said.

"There's been a massive groundswell (of support for the State of Origin game) from the broader community. I'm a fan just as much as anybody else. Obviously it's a challenge with the fixturing and the clubs wanting to have the players on a tight leash. 

"I'd love to be involved in the future. I'd love to wear a South Australian guernsey. I've still got my under-18 SA guernsey framed up at my house. Although it's not an SA guernsey this time, just being involved in the cause and in an (All-Stars) team is really cool."

In addition to the humanitarian priority of the occasion, Grundy was also "keen to win" against the Big V. 

"Victoria has always bullied the smaller states so it'd be nice to get one back," he quipped.

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The dual club champion said there had been some banter at Collingwood among the five selected on either team - Jeremy Howe will join Grundy for the All-Stars while Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom and Darcy Moore will line up for the Vics - in what he regarded as "an amazing opportunity". 

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"It's about wanting to put your best foot forward. We are professional at what we do. It is a cause close to home and I think guys will be having a crack," he said. 

Although it will be strange working against Pies skipper Pendlebury at stoppages, Grundy was excited by the prospect of feeding gun midfielders such as Fremantle's Nat Fyfe, Carlton's Patrick Cripps and Brisbane's Lachie Neale. 

"Cripps spends a lot of time sharking my hits so it would be nice to actually hit it to him this week," he said.

"It's a good opportunity. I've been a young ruckman playing for Collingwood and been really fortunate to play with guys like Pendlebury, (Dane) Swan, Luke Ball - all those champion midfielders. In a strange way, though, I've (only) known the Collingwood way, so it'll be nice to be exposed to a different environment and see how guys like Fyfe and Cripps orchestrate in the midfield."

The game will feature a custom-made orange Sherrin bearing the names of the 230 fire-affected communities. The orange represents the uniform of the SES (State Emergency Service). A limited edition of 1000 orange balls will also be on sale.

The curtain-raiser to the State of Origin clash will be a big AFLW encounter between Collingwood and Melbourne.