Gray was likened to a young Gary Ablett Jr when he joined the Power in 2006, but a string of soft-tissue injuries have hindered his development.
The 22-year-old had a breakout year in 2009, playing 20 games and kicking 30 goals to finish second behind retired champion Warren Tredrea in the club's goalkicking.
However he failed to repeat the performance last season, managing only 11 games because of persistent hamstring/back injuries.
The club's fitness staff resisted the temptation to place Gray on a modified training program over the summer and the injury-prone star said he'd gained confidence from his ability to handle the full pre-season.
"It's the most training I've managed to do in a pre-season, so I guess it's good from that point of view," he said.
"I've had a good pre-season so I'm pretty confident heading into the season -but I say that every pre-season.
"I'm doing everything I can. I'm just praying it all holds up and that I can get through the season."
Gray, a former basketballer, arrived at Port Adelaide with a limited football and training background.
It took the skilful clearance winner several seasons to understand the amount and type of training his fragile body could handle, but on Thursday he said he was cautiously optimistic he'd found the right regimen.
"I found a program that seemed to work for me in the second half of last year which enabled me to play out the season and I've continued on with that," he said.
"It's all about the stuff behind closed doors. I've been having a lot more physio and a lot more treatment. I've been doing all the needling, Pilates and stretching and getting general physio a couple of times a week.
"It's allowed me to get through the full pre-season and I'm feeling really fresh."
Gray is one of several big-name players who will return to the side to take on Richmond in Alice Springs on Friday night.
Midfielder Travis Boak and forward Jay Schulz have been named to play their first games of the pre-season competition, while ruckman Dean Brogan, Brett Ebert (virus) and Matt Thomas have been left out of the 26-man team.
Defender Nick Salter will also miss the clash with the Tigers to attend his sister's wedding.
Richmond also has some key players returning, with skipper Chris Newman, Trent Cotchin , Bachar Houli and Daniel Jackson heading the list of inclusions.
Gray, Boak and Schulz will be eased back into the team and are likely to play just over a half at Traeger Park on Friday.
Gray has shed two kilograms over summer and was hopeful the weight loss would improve his running capacity and allow him to play more minutes in the midfield this season.
"It would be ideal to, but it'll probably be half and half up forward," he said.
"We'll see how the new [interchange] rule goes with one less player on the bench. Hopefully, I'll be playing a bit more in the midfield.
Robbie Gray is a $282,400 forward in the Toyota AFL Dream Team competition
