Laying there in agony as a result of a Ryan James tackle his teammates described as a "cheap shot", visions of Alex McKinnon's horrific injury began to play on his mind.

Five five months later he is preparing for his return to rugby league in Friday night's All Stars game in Newcastle against the man who inflicted the injury. But the 23-year-old insists he holds no grudges against James for ending his 2016 season prematurely.

In recent years rugby league has been tormented by crippling injuries to McKinnon and Kurt Drysdale, and was rocked by the death of James Ackerman in a Queensland Cup game in 2015.

The reality of what a rugby league injury could have on a player was evident for everyone to see, adding to Campbell-Gillard's fears as he lay in his hospital bed following the injury against the Titans.

"My thoughts were 'would I be able to walk again?'," Campbell-Gillard told Fairfax Media.

"I wondered if I would be able to do everyday things. As soon as I got the all-clear I was over the moon with the result the specialist gave me.

"At first I thought it wasn't too serious when I walked off the field. I knew there was something wrong but not the extent of the injury. What happened to [Alex] – it does play on your mind. Through your head you think 'am I the next person?' As soon as I got the news I was pretty happy."

Almost a week after he was admitted to hospital last August, Campbell-Gillard was discharged and returned to Sydney in a back brace with the aid of two Panthers support staff.

It took three days for the nurses and doctors to remove Campbell-Gillard's jersey, such was the discomfort and concern surrounding the movement of the promising young prop.

"It was pretty scary," he said.

"I had to wait a couple of days after for the specialist to get there to find out exactly what the injury was and how it was going to affect me. It's such a nervous time waiting to get the news, so when I finally got told I was pretty happy that I'd be okay to play footy again."

"They said it was a three-month injury and it would be four or five months before I'd be back to full training. That's what they expected and that's where I'm at as we speak."

His Penrith teammates were concerned for his wellbeing as they left the Gold Coast without their prop last year, lashing out at James for the tackle.

But Campbell-Gillard doesn't have any ill-feeling toward the Gold Coast forward, who until this week hadn't spoken to the Penrith forward despite the criticism directed his way.

"I'm over it. I'm not holding any grudges," Campbell-Gillard said.

"It's footy – I got over it. I said hello [this week], that's about it. I'm not holding any grudges."

Penrith coach Anthony Griffin remembered the concern shown for his prop by his teammates.

"We were all worried about him," Griffin said.

"I think after the first couple of days the medical reports were fairly consistent that it wasn't going to be a long-term injury. But obviously on the night the boys saw how much pain he was in getting stretchered out of the dressing room.

"Naturally everyone was worried for him. I'm happy for him that he gets the chance to play in the All Stars and I'm looking forward to seeing how he goes."