Newcastle Knights hooker Jayden Brailey has reportedly suffered an injury setback as he aims to make his way back from a knee reconstruction.
As reported byย News Corp, Brailey has sustained a slight hamstring injury, ruling him out for both weeks of the NRL Pre-Season Challenge.
Racing the clock to be ready for Round 1, it is understood that the injury will likely see him begin the season in the NSW Cup or start from the interchange bench, allowing Phoenix Crossland to slot straight into the number nine jersey.
After missing the majority of the 2023ย NRLย season,ย Jayden Brailey recently travelled overseas to continue his rehabilitation.
Following in the footsteps ofย Latrell Mitchell,ย Ryan Papenhuyzen, andย Tom Trbojevic, theย Newcastle Knights skipper travelled to Philadelphia in the United States in December working alongside reconditioning specialist Bill Knowles.
Brailey injured his knee in April, devastatingly ending his 2023 season campaign and is currently on the comeback trail. This wasn't the first time he had ruptured his ACL, with the 27-year-old doing it twice before - one on the right leg and one on the left leg.
โJayden was worked extremely hard on his rehabilitation,โ Knights coachย Adam O'Brienย said viaย News Corpย last year.
โWe are really happy with the way he is running and he has already integrated himself in a lot of the skill drills.
โGiven his last couple of years we feel this is another tool we can use and it's an important part of his return to play.
โIt's a reflection of how we feel about him and how important he is to our team.โ
