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A once-mighty NRL force aiming to climb out of hard times, Brenko Lee can see similarities between his own and new club Brisbane's journeys in recent times.

Brisbane recruit Brenko Lee knows what it's like to be top of the NRL pile.

He's also painfully aware of how quickly things can change.

The 26-year-old could do little wrong in 2020, forcing his way into a Melbourne line-up that would go on to win the grand final before then having a role in Queensland's shock end-of-year State of Origin success under Wayne Bennett.

That success came at a price though, his body already starting to break down by the Origin campaign in which he featured just once in the three matches due to a niggling calf issue.

That calf problem simply wouldn't go away in 2021 as Lee failed to make a single first-grade appearance for the Storm before his end-of-season switch to the Broncos.

"As a little kid you've always dreamt of playing for Queensland and winning a premiership and doing that in one year, it was top of the list for me," Lee said after his first training session with his new club on Friday.

"This year was a real learning curve. Just all those soft tissue injuries, it just goes to show that one day you can be top of the world and next day you can be down and out.

"I'm just really grateful that the Broncos gave me an opportunity to be back home, be where I'm from and I just really want to work hard here. Put that all behind me now and start fresh."

A Brisbane boy, Lee's path to the Broncos has come via stints at Canberra, Canterbury, Gold Coast and Melbourne.

Regardless of the roundabout nature of his journey, he couldn't be prouder to be playing for his hometown club - who are similarly on a mission to get back to the game's heights after a humiliating slide to the competition's cellar in recent seasons.

"You want to play for this club and you always dream of it but you never think it's going to come true. I'm just glad to be back here," Lee said.

"This club's gone through a hard time ... I learnt my trade in Melbourne, played with some high-quality players and learned how to be professional.

"One thing that's for sure is we're not going to get beaten on hard work, that's something that we want to build here and that's something we want to pride ourselves on - our effort and our hard work."