Captaincy hopeful Green on track for quick return

Blake Green was supposed to be a Bulldog this year but an untimely ruptured ACL has meant he instead stayed at Newcastle, got added to the leadership group and is now on track to miss only a minimal amount of football.

Green suffered the injury in round 15 against the Cowboys in just his third game for the club following a mid-year switch from the Warriors.

Already doing plenty of running, Green is about three weeks away from ramping up his testing at the six-month mark, which falls on February 23.

The Knights' March 12 season-opener against Canterbury, the team he was meant to be suiting up for this year, comes six-and-a-half months post-injury.

Green said it's too early to tell what his return date will be until past the six-month point but a best-case scenario could have him miss as little as a month of footy while the most cautious return to play (barring setbacks) would have him on the field by round 11.

"It's going really good… once we get to that six month mark we'll be able to do some testing and see where I'm at but it's been tracking along really well," Green said.

"The medical team at the club have been fantastic, the rehab program I've been put through has been really professional, we've ticked all the boxes so far and haven't had any hiccups so fingers crossed it keeps going good.

"It's hard to put a date on… I've been running and tracking really well so once we get to that six month mark I'll be able to up the ante and find out how I'm going with some testing. When I'm ready I'll be back as quick as I can."

Green is part of a five-man leadership group along with Jayden Brailey, Daniel Saifiti, Kalyn Ponga and Mitch Barnett.

The captain will be revealed at the club's March 2 season launch but regardless of Green's formal role this year he said his on-field duties won't change much.

"It's nothing new for me, I've been around for a while and been in a few leadership groups over the last six or seven years, in my position it's part of my game anyway," he said.

"I've had some really good role models along the way. At Wigan there was Sean O'Loughlin who was probably one of the best players I played with in the Super League, he was captain there. I learned a heap from him. And Cameron Smith at Melbourne.

"I've got a fair indication of what it looks like to be a strong leader at a club. I think the idea of having five senior guys at the moment is just a good fit for our club. We all bring something different, we all have different attributes as a leader so at the moment wherever Adam sees that fit to put that in place, that's where we're headed at the moment."

Green also elaborated on how his near-miss at Canterbury under his former Manly coach Trent Barrett played out.

"I signed with Newcastle for the rest of the year (in 2020) and I had a deal in place to go to the Bulldogs," he said.

"It was just unfortunate timing with when I did my knee. Trent was going to the club as a new coach, I've got a really good relationship with Baz.

"He needed someone to get his attack on in the pre-season and start the year and get the club off to a strong start and I obviously couldn't be that person anymore so it was an easy conversation really to have.

"It was the best thing for both parties, worked out really well. I'm really happy here and grateful to be staying at Newcastle."