AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou says he is thrilled with the continued growth of Australian Rules football in the non-traditional football state of Queensland.

Mr Demetriou headed to the Sunshine State this week as part of his routine visit to each of the AFL clubs.

He presented to both the Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Suns on the state of the game.

“I’m really excited about what’s happening in Queensland for our code,” Mr Demetriou said during his Thursday media conference from the Gabba.

“We’ve got over 155,000 participants in Queensland. By the end of this year, that will be the second highest participation (rate) in Australia – higher than Western Australia and South Australia.

“We’ve got 93,000 students playing the game – the highest of any school participation in the country.

“Of our 135,000 women playing the game, 40% of the women come out of Queensland – the highest participation of women in the game.

“There’s a lot to like about Queensland.”

As part of his visit, Mr Demetriou joined Lions CEO Malcolm Holmes in Springfield to see for himself one of the potential sites for the Club’s new administration base.

Mr Holmes said the proposed development of a new headquarters was critical to the Lions’ future.

“We’ve been working on this project for two years and I’ve been on record before saying that I think this is the most important decision the football club will make in its history,” Mr Holmes said.

“And we’ve got to get it right because we’re talking about the next 50 years.”

“That western corridor, the population growth is phenomenal. There’s meant to be another 400,000 people out there in the next 20 years. The infrastructure spend for a satellite city that’s only 25 minutes from the CBD is phenomenal – with train lines, roads, and the like.”

“We’ve been having good discussions with them, but we’re yet to make any decisions.”