His season-ending knee injury suffered in just his second game for the Knights back in March was heartbreaking initially and then frustrating, as he helplessly watched on as the side qualified for the play-offs.

But if there is an upside to being injured so early, it's that he has had plenty of time to rehab and recover after his knee reconstruction.

No surprise then the player with the biggest smile on his face when pre-season training kicked off in the heat yesterday at the club's Mayfield headquarters was the skilful young hooker, who is in no doubt for the start of the 2021 season.

"Yeah, I'm very excited," Brailey said before the session. "It's a bit of relief as well. I've been waiting for this day for a long time and to be able to run out with the boys - I'm itching to get out there."

It's impossible to quantify just how big an impact the loss of Brailey had on the side's campaign last season.

After he went down, coach Adam O'Brien was forced to use another five players in his position at various stages. No one was affected more than skipper and halfback Mitchell Pearce.

But despite what you might think, personally, the young hooker doesn't view the season as a complete write-off.

He became a defacto coach and used his time on the sideline to pour over game videos and analyse rival forward packs for O'Brien during the lead-up to games. He also saw first hand how the coaches prepare.

It's a perspective Brailey admits he would never have had if he'd been playing. Importantly, he believes he will be a better player because of it.

"I've probably watched more football than I ever have before throughout the year," he said.

"I didn't want to sort of waste season 2020 because of the injury. I wanted to keep my footy brain intact and that's why I did a bit of coaching stuff and you probably saw me up in the box a couple of times. I just wanted to see and understand the sort of standards that Adam wants us to live up to as players and I think I've really made the most of 2020 for what it was and I know what I need to bring now."

Not surprisingly, Brailey didn't want a bar of any talk of a hooker's curse at the Knights given two of his hooking replacements, Andrew McCulloch and Connor Watson, also suffered season-ending injuries.

"I don't want to talk about that. That's something I'll leave over there and never think about again," he said.

"There was a lot of mental battles for me throughout the year. I'm just really relieved it's all done and I'm back fit and healthy and I can be back doing what I love."

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