NRL players who work overtime to return from injuries are often rewarded for their efforts by getting back in the game sooner rather than later.

But for Newcastle winger Edrick Lee, all he got out of it was an early finish to his 2019 season and a harsh lesson.

Miserable and carrying a broken arm after the best start to a season in his NRL career, Lee was doing his own research into recovery and ignoring the signs he should slow down in his rehab.

Injured in round 15 while the Knights were fifth on the ladder, Lee was desperate to make it back on the field for the end of the season.

But his injury worsened along with the Knights’ form.

“With the start that I had and the sort of footy we were playing, I was really excited to play and to have this first injury in a new city and a new team it made it hard,” he told AAP.

“It was just a matter of trying to do whatever I could do.

“The way I was pushing my injury, I was pushing myself a lot faster than usual because I really wanted to get back out there, so as much as I could I tried to force the recovery and it sort of went the other way.

“I had a little set back in the healing process. It knocked me around a little bit but I’m lucky with the guys at the club they helped me a lot.”

The 27-year-old had surgery on a radial fracture mid-season and struggled with the isolation of training as a new player in a new team.

It was more difficult to cop given his roaring start for the Knights where he scored six tries in 15 games on the wing – form he wants to replicate under new coach Adam O’Brien in 2020.

“I just really wanted to get back, the athlete and competitor inside of me just really wanted to be out there with the team,” he said.

However, he says he has learned his lesson to be patient and listen to his body in the future as he starts to re-establish his place in the Knights’ best 17.

“In the end it worked out and I’m just lucky to get through that phase and be here now,” he said.