Jake Neade is expecting a good crowd to support Port Adelaide when it heads north to face against Melbourne in Alice Springs on the weekend.

“I missed out last year. I love playing up in Alice and I played most of my junior footy up there,” Neade said ahead of the Sir Douglas Nicholls Indigenous Round. 

“With the family coming down it’s a special day as well and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The Round 10 clash at TIO Traeger Park Oval will see Port Adelaide help bring a number of junior footballers to Alice Springs to play in a WillPower carnival at the nearby Jim McConville Oval.

“We’ve reached out to communities in Northern Territory and in Elliott, with a program up there called WillPower,” he said.

“They’ve actually got a competition before the game so they’ll all be playing against each other.”

Neade said he has always looked up to past Port Adelaide players, Gavin Wanganeen, Byron Pickett and former Essendon player, Michael Long who came from a remote Northern Territory community.

He said the trip to the NT would give him the perfect opportunity to do some community work before he returns to Adelaide. 

The Power's Indigenous Round guernsey, designed by teammate Karl Amon, symbolises the strong indigenous history of the Port Adelaide Football Club.

“It’s special for him [Amon] and definitely special for us too…a proud moment,” Neade said.  

Despite an 8-point loss to West Coast on Saturday, Neade said the Power are coming into Round 10’s clash with confidence.

“I think we’ve won pretty much every game up in Alice, so that gives us a bit of a boost as well,” he said.

“We haven’t been in great form, but we are still slowly taking that step forward which is great.”