Breust was the substitute for the first five games of his AFL career, coming on at different stages of the game to have an impact.
He said the Hawthorn match committee never intended to develop him as a specialist substitute but circumstances saw him don the green vest for five consecutive weeks.
"In a couple of those I played a lot of game [time] and in others I only played a quarter or a half. In the last couple of weeks I've played nearly a full game," Breust said.
"It just seemed to fall that way. My first game I played a full game so I could be the sub next week. It seemed to work out that one week I would play nearly a full game and the next week I'd play a half or a quarter and still be the sub."
Breust quickly learned that preparation for life as a substitute had to be different to the other 21 players. By the end of his five-week tenure he had his routine down to a fine art.
"You put your warm-up back a little bit to make sure you're not hyped up right at the start of the game when you know you're not going to be playing," he said.
"The main thing is to try and be in the game as much as you can, watch what things are working for us, talk to the players as they come off and make sure you're up and running for five or six minutes then at the breaks have a kick and try to stay focused. When you come on you can have that impact."
The past three weeks have seen Breust shed the green vest and his football has steadily improved to the point where he earned the round 15 nomination for the NAB AFL Rising Star.
He kicked two goals and had 15 disposals in Hawthorn's 41-point loss to Collingwood.
While the game was all but decided by half-time, Breust says there were some encouraging signs to come from it.
"Our systems let us down in the first half [but] we went one on one in the second half and I think that worked well for us," he said.
"We get a few numbers back like Rioli, Lewis and Sewell. If we can remain injury free for the rest of the season we will have a strong side going into the finals."
Breust is just one of a batch of young Hawks to have vastly improved this year. Shane Savage, Liam Shiels and Matthew Suckling have also hit their stride and Breust says he has identified his spot in the team if he can hold on to it.
"I think that small forward/half-forward role is what I'll play and I seem to be doing alright at that at the moment. I'm happy with that role in the side," he said.
Breust credits Hawthorn forwards coach Leon Cameron with helping him take his game to the next level and says he can see why there is so many plaudits for him within the football industry.
"You've got to look at his playing career. He had a pretty good playing career and he's taken that into his coaching," he said.
"There are signs there that he could be a senior coach."
