For a bloke considered amongst the most competitive Knights' players, a pre-season plagued by injury setbacks has been a living nightmare for prop Kade Snowden.
Of course injuries are never fun, no matter the person, but for Snowden the pain of knee and calf injuries has been particularly hard to take.
You see, on the back of arguably his strongest season in the NRL in 2013, the Belmont-born bookend was determined as ever to build on that momentum.
Instead the hulking forward has spent the summer relegated to the rehab room, a lonely place for a guy hellbent on becoming better.
Speaking with Knights TV after training on Tuesday, Snowden opens up on the sheer joy of completing just his second full training session for the pre-season.
“I'm excited to train and get through uninjured, so I’m really happy," Snowden enthuses.
“This is the first pre-season I haven’t done everything, so it has been pretty boring training by myself.
“I’m really excited if I’m allowed to play on the weekend against the Raiders.
“Anytime would be good, so I’m really looking forward to having a run around.”
Snowden was a standout for the Club last season, starring in 20 games, and it's the type of form he wants to replicate in 2014.
It's also an incentive that has driven the forward through the tough times of injury.
“That’s the level I’ll probably have to get back to,” he admits.
“At the moment I’m just trying to concentrate on getting my fitness back up there and playing well.
“So I’ll just go week-by-week until everything is 100 per cent.”
On the back of a restricted pre-season on the training paddock, Snowden knows there will be stages when he'll struggle with his fitness against the Raiders on Saturday.
“Oh we did a little bit out there at training before and I was blowing," he grins.
“But after a few games you usually get your match fitness back, so that’s all you really need.”
As Snowden has discovered this pre-season, hard work will always get you through the dark days as long as you're willing to put in the effort.
