Ex-Carlton and Brisbane forward Brendan Fevola said he wants to return to the AFL — to rescue one-time powerhouse, but now ailing, Collingwood.

Fevola, now 36, has not played an AFL match since 2011, but kicked 623 goals in a stellar 204-game career.

Collingwood’s lack of an experienced key forward — and a win-loss record of 1-4 after five matches — saw fans start an online petition calling for the Magpies to sign Fevola, who still plays country football.

The petition, at the time of publication, had 932 signatures, and Fevola said it got him pondering — thoughts that led him to the realisation he wanted his AFL career to continue.

“I sort of laughed at it at the start, but then I got thinking,” Fevola said on his Fox FM radio show.

“You can’t come in and play [immediately] and I’m as fat as a house and not very fit. I get puffed walking down the hallway … it can’t happen today.

“But I sat down with [partner] Alex last night having a beverage over dinner and I said, ‘Seriously, if I started training now, they got me fit, I got myself fit, and went there and did a pre-season, go on a rookie list, have a chat with Eddie [club president Eddie McGuire]’.

“It would be for the start of next year so I’ve got nearly a full season to get myself fit, which I can do because I’ve been fit before.

“Go on a rookie list … cost them no money … they put me on a rookie list, I play twos [VFL], they get an injury and I go up into the ones [AFL]. What a story.”

Fevola, who said he was disappointed with the way his AFL career ended — he was sacked by Brisbane — added he would make a major difference to Collingwood if the move actually happened.

Fevola played for Bacchus Marsh during the 2013 season. Photo: Getty

“I think I could play better than some of the blokes that are out there now,” he said.

“I’ve been to the well and back so I could go onto the big stage … I don’t get nervous.

“These young kids out there, they get a little bit nervous. If there’s 60,000 people there I’ll kick six [goals], if there’s 70,000, I’ll kick seven.

“I’d kick 70 goals [for Collingwood]. I’d kick 70 goals without even training — imagine if I did train?”

Fevola has become a gun-for-hire in recent seasons, playing for a handful of teams in Victoria, including Yarrawonga, Deer Park and Melton South.

He appears on morning radio with Melbourne’s Fox FM on ‘Fifi, Dave, Fev and Byron’, and won Network Ten television reality program, I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here in 2016.