It will be a long NRL off-season for Canberra thinking about what could have been in 2019, but nobody will be working harder than suspended youngster Hudson Young.

The 21-year-old was the forgotten man in the grand final last Sunday. Young missed the decider because he was serving his second suspension of his debut season for dangerous contact with the eye.

The rookie copped five matches for making contact with the eyes of Canterbury’s Aidan Tolman in round 12 and then got eight weeks for the same offence against Warriors’ Adam Pompey in round 25.

It meant Young missed the Raiders’ historic finals run as the Green Machine made their first grand final since 1994.

They lost the decider against the Sydney Roosters in a nail-biter and Young said he’d use the lessons learnt from 2019 for the rest of his career.

“Missing the games during the season then doing it again, you sit at home and you can’t sleep at night and you’re just thinking what if I didn’t do it,” Young told AAP.

“You just never know what would have come if I didn’t do it. During (grand final) week I was getting around the boys it was alright but once it started to kick in that I wasn’t playing, it was tough.

“I’ve never felt that before and I’d say it will drive me for the rest of my career. It’s something I never want to feel again, I just feel like I’ve let the boys down, although everyone played exceptionally.

“I just want to try and move on to next year and hopefully we can go one bigger.”

Young was hammered on social media following his second suspension but pointed to teammate Jack Wighton as inspiration he can win fans back.

Wighton was handed a suspended jail sentence for a drunken assault less than 12 months ago but bounced back to make his maiden NSW and Kangaroos squads.

He also won the Clive Churchill Medal in a losing grand final side.

“The way he has bounced back this year, playing Origin and leading the boys around this season, he deserves it, he has worked so hard,” Young said.

“He’s the first one out at training and the last one to leave. He deserves everything.

“I don’t think I’ll change anything in my game, I just think I’ll work on controlling my aggression.

“I’ll chat to certain people around the club. Stick (coach Ricky Stuart) has been massive. He’s helped me out heaps and all the boys get around me, it’s good.”

Young is contracted until the end of 2021.