LUCKLESS forward Orazio Fantasia says he knew within 30 seconds of his return for Port Adelaide in the SANFL last week.

Fantasia left the field early in the first quarter after having an issue with his left quad – the same one which had experienced tightness a week early and delayed his first game of the season.

The 26-year-old is now expecting to be sidelined for another month.

“It’s been a tough four or five days,” Fantasia said on Adelaide radio station FIVEaa on Friday morning.

“I probably lasted about 30 seconds. My tight quad from the week before ended up turning into a quad strain and then I played out the next eight minutes, finished up my rotation and walked off.

“I just went to sprint back to goal and then ‘bang’ so I was just hobbling around a little bit and then came off.”

After having knee surgery early in the season, Fantasia’s return had been carefully managed after a “mini pre-season” to build hit fitness base.

He was due to play in the SANFL against West Adelaide in Loxton a week earlier but tightness in that quad late in the week meant he sat out an extra week.

But the former Essendon forward explained how a decision was reached for him to face North Adelaide last weekend after he felt good at training.

“We all sat down and I felt really good, I couldn’t feel it before the game,” he explained.

“I said I was ready to go and unfortunately, I wasn’t.”

On the plus side, the strain isn’t as bad as it could have been and Fantasia expects to be back training and playing within a month.

“It’s not too bad,” he said. “It’s not really in the deep rec fem, it’s just in the surface muscle covering that so if I had a (fitness) base under me, it’d probably be two weeks.

“Unfortunately, I don’t so it’s probably going to be a month because I just need to get fit again and build it up again.”

After an injury riddled 2020, Fantasia returned home to Adelaide and booted 28 goals in 15 games in his first season at the club.

But he has admitted his recent injury issues have made him think about his football mortality

“I think about it all the time and a lot of AFL players won’t say that but when you have a lot of injuries you always question yourself; are you going to get back and play? How long is it going to take? This is another one, are you ever going to fulfill your potential is another one I always think about, which is a tough one,” he explained.

“Every step you take, getting into the car you think ‘oh that doesn’t feel right’, you’re constantly thinking about (injuries) because it’s always on your mind.”