Lindsay Thomas holds a few special things close to his heart, namely his family, football and his Indigenous heritage.

That’s why being selected to play in the AFL All-Stars Indigenous team means so much to the 23-year old.

“I played in the Indigenous side a couple of years ago and it’s really great. I probably have it up there as one of my career highlights playing in one of these games,” Thomas told NMFC.com.au.

“I’m not just representing myself but representing the North Melbourne Football Club and my family as well. I’m really excited to play again, I can’t wait.”

Thomas will be among 60 Indigenous players heading to Alice Springs on Tuesday for the annual AFL Players’ Association Indigenous Camp and a small number of them will go on to compete against Richmond on Friday night.

“The camp is really good.  We get up to Alice and meet the rest of the guys who come from all the other states. We do some training together and then have community visits and workshops on Wednesday and Thursday.

“The whole week you learn a lot from guys like Michael O’Loughlin, Adam Goodes and Shaun Burgoyne. You pick their brains so when you come home to the club, you bring a lot back with you.”

Another player Thomas is looking forward to sharing the experience with is close friend Eddie Betts.

“It’s going to be exciting to play with Eddie. We’ve had a lot of good battles playing against Carlton for our last three or four Friday night games but it will be nice to play alongside him and also Buddy Franklin and all the other great players,” Thomas said.

Thomas is all for developing the Indigenous match to make it an even larger exhibition in the future.

“As the concept keeps growing I hope one day we can have an Indigenous team play against an Irish and Australian team. They’re still taking baby steps but hopefully one day they can pick the best Indigenous team to play against those other sides.

“To showcase our game along with other Indigenous stars is great.”

Daniel Wells with miss this year’s camp due to an injury interrupted pre-season.

“With Wellsy’s achilles bothering him, it’s best that he stays here to focus on his own training because we want him up and about for North Melbourne.

“It would have been good if he came along but in saying that, it will be good to have a break from each other,” Thomas joked.