AFL will return to South Australia's second largest city after an 11-year absence when Adelaide takes on Melbourne at the Blue Lake Sports Park in Mount Gambier this afternoon.

The city's first taste of big-time footy came in 1996 when Melbourne played Essendon in a practice match that was the first AFL game held in regional South Australia.

Since that day, Mount Gambier has been the venue for two AFL Community Camps – Adelaide's in 2003 and Port Adelaide's in 2005 – and after a long wait the picturesque city is looking forward to a hosting another match.

"Mount Gambier looks forward to any opportunity to have AFL teams here," the city's mayor, Steve Perryman, told afl.com.au.

"There is certainly great anticipation leading up to Saturday, where people will be able to see first hand some of the elite footballers go around the park here.

"There's a great deal of interest, not just in Mount Gambier, but right across the region through into Victoria, because we are only 30km from the border.

Perryman said the presence of the Crows, who have a strong following in the area, meant a crowd of up to 10,000 was expected.

He is expecting about half of those to come from outside of Mount Gambier, given the popularity of Australian rules on both sides of the border.

"There's a fair swag of teams that are followed here as we are so close to the Victorian border, and we've always been heavily influenced by the VFL," he said.

"The Herald Sun typically sells more copies than the South Australian-based paper, the Adelaide Advertiser.

"There's a lot of history of people following VFL teams before the AFL came about. But as far as the two South Australian teams are concerned, there is a strong following for both, but I think probably Crows supporters are more in number and a bit more parochial."

With such large numbers expected to converge on Mount Gambier, Perryman said the city was set to benefit from the attention.

"It's fantastic in terms of exposure, particularly from those visitors within the region, but also from a national perspective," he said.

"As people follow their clubs through the pre-season competition, you hear about these regional areas where teams are playing, and we haven't been included in the last few years.

"But in 2007, AFL followers across the country are going to be listening in for results coming out of Mount Gambier. So it's fantastic in terms of exposure for us as a location, and certainly a great benefit to have up to 10,000 people converge on Mount Gambier for that day."

The Mount Gambier council was first told of the AFL's intentions to stage a pre-season match in the regional town in November last year, after the coastal city of Whyalla was unable to provide a suitable ground because of the drought.

"We're lucky down here, we've got good rainfall and have a reasonable amount of water available, so it's a good fortune for us," Mayor Perryman said.

"Unfortunately, it's come at the expense of the Whyalla community."

Perryman said the South Mount Gambier Football Club would host the match, with the oval's facilities set to take the AFL players back to their days of grassroots footy.

"It's a typical country football ground. There is a tiered concourse area, which is standing room only," he said.

"There is some shelter and some wooden seats around the boundary. It's a pretty large ground and is probably the largest in the Western Border league, and the clubroom facilities are quite large."

Not only will the Mount Gambier public be given a rare chance to see AFL players in the flesh, but local Auskick participants will be invited to play in a junior half-time match.

"Some of the local south-east South Australian Auskicks will be having a run-around," Western Border Football League chief executive Mark Turri said.

"For the kids of the local region, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play at half-time of an AFL match. Our location means it's not possible for it to happen on a regular basis.

"For a regional town like Mt Gambier to host one of these games is a great boost, not just for the town, but for also for the kids who will be able to play in the Auskick and remember this for the rest of their lives.

"Kids watch the AFL stars and suddenly they want to be involved in the game themselves. We are very confident it will be a positive for junior football within the region."

Today's NAB Regional Challenge match between Adelaide and Melbourne kicks off at 3.30pm, ACST.