IF IT wasn't for his twice-reconstructed right knee, Brendan Whitecross would most likely be a dual premiership player at Hawthorn.

For many footballers, that misfortune would dull their appreciation of the game, so it's surprising when Whitecross says he loves AFL more than ever before.

But even more unexpected is how he rekindled that desire – by going camping.

Early last season, Whitecross was faced with a seemingly agonising decision after his rehabilitation from his second knee reconstruction stalled.

The Hawks were flying, undefeated after four rounds and on top of the ladder.

Whitecross was told he could keep pushing to try and get back after round 20, or wipe the slate clean and start again with the goal of returning in 2015.

Whitecross boosts Hawks' feelgood factor

It would seem a tough call – knowing Hawthorn could win back-to-back premierships for only they second time in history – but Whitecross says it proved to be a blessing in disguise.

"I hadn't had the best start to rehab. I hadn't had any setbacks, it was just taking a little longer than we expected considering it was a different surgery this time around – we used a patella graft, whereas the first time we used a hamstring," Whitecross tells AFL.com.au.

"I thought 'Let's just pull the pin now, let the knee recover and then towards the back of the end of the year that's when I'll start my rehab process'.

"At that point I was really clear in my mind that it was a good decision. Not that there would have been pressure on me to play, but there was no stress from my point-of-view to get up and be ready to go by the end of the year."

Relieved of the burden of pushing his recovery, Whitecross gladly accepted two weeks' leave when the club offered.

With his small family – partner Kelly and two-year old Cody – he hooked the caravan to the back of his four-wheel drive and headed for the hills, to the Yarra Ranges and beyond the confines of football-mad Melbourne.

In the ensuing weeks and months, Whitecross carefully followed his rehabilitation plan to the letter.

But whenever he and Kelly got the chance, they would jump in the car and head for Mount Buller, Wood's Point, Jamieson, or wherever there whims took them.

"I knew I wasn't going to play, so I thought I need to be a little bit selfish here and make sure I'm ready to for 2015," Whitecross says.

"During the week I'd still be in here at the club, but I wouldn't be here later than 10am. I'd get in here about 7.30 or 8am and see the physios but I'd be out of here by the time the boys started to train. 

"Some people probably questioned it early but I knew what was best for me considering I'd been through it twice.

"So I packed the caravan up … I just made sure that I was not so much getting away from the club but getting out of Melbourne and away from footy.

"We'd set up camp but then we'd jump in the four-wheel drive for the day and go and see some tracks. The good thing about the Victorian high country is there's a lot of history. 

"Kelly's got a motorbike, so she'd pack the motorbike in and go off riding and I'd follow her in the four-wheel drive."

It was the clear air of the country that worked wonders for Whitecross' state of mind. 

When he first damaged his knee in the 2012 qualifying final win over Collingwood, he couldn't wait to get back into rehab.

While he was recovering he attended all the meetings, travelled with the team interstate for games and went along to every match.

But second time around, he knew things needed to change.

"No doubt if I had’ve kept my head so involved in footy, mentally I would have been burnt out come the start of this year," Whitecross says.

"I knew that my decision was going to be the best one because now I love footy more than ever.

"It almost feels like I've had a whole year off footy. There's not many players who can say that in the middle of their careers.

"The body feels great. If I could play every couple of days I probably would at the moment – that's how much I'm enjoying it."

Whitecross' outlook now is a far cry from his darkest days after that fateful 2013 preliminary final against Geelong.

Although the match – when the Hawks stormed home to win from 20 points down at the final change and broke the 'Kennett Curse' – has gone down in AFL folklore, it will be remembered by the Queenslander for another reason.

Lunging to tackle Cam Guthrie in the frenzied final term, Whitecross wrenched his battle-scarred knee and ruled himself out of contention for a second-straight Grand Final.

Three days later he had surgery, and the next Saturday he loaded up on painkillers and anti-inflammatories so he could get to the season-decider at the MCG.

It was an exercise in professionalism and pain. During the match, Whitecross was absorbed by the contest and what his teammates were, and should, be doing against Fremantle.

But soon after the final siren blew, he realised he was in agony from his newly-repaired knee and as his teammates hoisted the premiership cup he hobbled home to lay on the couch.

"The week after, I was still at home and all the boys were out celebrating and you can't get amongst it. Everything you looked at or heard was about Hawthorn winning.

"It got to a point where I didn't look at my phone, didn't watch the TV or listen to the radio, I just had nothing. I just tried to avoid it as much as I could.

"So that was probably the hardest moment, was just not being able to be a part of it and hearing about it all the time.

"(Cody) helped me through because he was only a couple of months old the day I did my knee the second time.

"So that helped take my mind off footy."

In March, Whitecross finally banished those bleak memories when he made his return to competitive football in a VFL practice game for Box Hill at Casey Fields.

It was a long way from the bright lights of a preliminary final at the MCG, but after just two matches his form warranted an AFL recall.

Out of the blue, the 25-year-old from Zillmere in Brisbane's north – who had played 84 games since his debut in 2009 – was named by coach Alastair Clarkson to resume his stalled career against the Western Bulldogs in Launceston.

"I didn't expect to be playing round three," Whitecross admits.

"I knew on form that I would be ready to go. But when ‘Clarko’ read my name out I was completely off-guard because there was no talk of I could be in or I could be in the mix.

"I was sitting there in the front row and I was zoning out a little bit and he read my name out and I was like 'Oh, righto, great, let's go'."

Whitecross' first senior game for 576 days could hardly have unfolded better.

He gathered 12 touches roaming across half-back, had the ball in hand as the siren blew for a 70-point Hawks win and received a "confidence-booster" when Bulldogs onballer Jack Macrae cannoned into his right knee late in the game.

Brendan Whitecross contests the ball against the Western Bulldogs. Picture: Getty Images

Last weekend against North Melbourne he achieved another special milestone when he played alongside close friends Ryan Schoenmakers and Matt Suckling.

The trio had not played together since the 2012 qualifying final, but they – along with Alex Woodward – had forged close bonds by helping each other through their rehab from knee recos.

"We just need 'Woody' to be able to break into the side and then there would be four of us," Whitecross says.

"'Schoey', 'Suckers' and I were having a bit of a laugh before and after the game on the weekend because we all debuted together in 2009 and last weekend was the first game in a long time that we'd all been in the same side together.

"It was a good little moment within that game. 

It's a mark of the team-first attitude that Clarkson loves about Whitecross that he says "it doesn't get any better" than watching Suckling overcome his hurdles to play in last year's Grand Final demolition of the Sydney Swans.

Given Whitecross' popularity at Waverley, it's a safe bet his teammates would feel the same way should he join the premiership player club at the end of this season.

While that burning ambition is driving Whitecross, his greatest desire is just to stay out on the park and to keep enjoying his football. 

"I've sat through four Grand Finals now since being at the club. There's a massive hunger to get there again to give myself and the team the best chance of performing in finals again," Whitecross says.

"But if I was relying on that just to get through this year I'd have to question what I'm doing.

"The biggest driver for me now this year is playing footy again, enjoying my footy and performing the best that I can for the side. 

"Once and if we make the finals this year everything will look after itself."