PORT Adelaide captain Dom Cassisi made a strong return on Sunday from a horror leg injury suffered in round two, and was glad to do it back home in Perth.

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The 28-year-old Power captain fractured the tibia of his right leg and suffered knee cartilage damage against West Coast at AAMI Stadium.

It hasn't been an easy road to get back to face the Eagles again at Patersons Stadium, but he was just happy to be back leading his team - and doing it in his hometown in front of familiar faces made it feel like 2002 all over again for him.

"It felt like I was playing my debut again in front of the family and friends," Cassisi said.

"It has been pretty testing really. The last six or seven weeks I've had a massive training block and a lot of it I was doing on my own," Cassisi said.

"That's what it takes to get back, though, and I'm really happy to be out there with the boys again. It was just really enjoyable to be on the road again and being part of it after being out for a fair while.

"I've really been looking forward to this day and it was disappointing that we didn't get a win, but I couldn't question the boys' intensity out there."

Cassisi worked his way into the game nicely showing his trademark toughness and ability to win the hard ball. He had six clearances, four entries inside-50 and four rebounds from defensive 50 to go with 24 possessions and 11 tackles.

He was excited by the positive signs from the young players around him.

"I was just happy to do my bit for the side and more happy just to get through the game to build up a bit more match fitness, and hopefully I can build on that in the second half of the year now," he said.

"I'm really excited about our future. I think we have some really good young kids coming through and we are getting games into them. They are learning from that every week and playing against the best sides is a great education for them. It should hold us in good stead moving forward."

Cassisi is now looking forward to his first match back at AAMI Stadium against North Melbourne on Sunday, and hoping if the Power play like they did in the second against West Coast they can snare a win.

"They are a form side as well so there's no easy games," Cassisi said.

"If we bring the intensity that we did for this game and just tidy up a few skill things while sticking to our structure for a bit longer, then I have no doubt that we can push them."