Reformed Dragons hooker Craig Garvey has credited coach Paul McGregor with saving his career after ending a year-long NRL exile against Parramatta on Saturday night.

In the absence of regular starting rake Mitch Rein, Garvey looked dangerous out of dummy-half with some probing runs when injected from the interchange bench to play 35 minutes.

It wasn't enough to get the Dragons over the line in the match but it was a big moment for the 22-year-old, who admitted to thinking his rugby league ship had sailed following an assault conviction in September last year.

The conviction stemmed from an altercation with a man at a Wollongong hotel in February 2014 that saw Garvey stood down and fined by the club.

He made his only NRL appearance of 2014 four weeks later in the Dragons' round 13 victory over Cronulla before again being stood down following his conviction.

It left the undeniably talented former NSW under-20s rep in career limbo until the club, due in no small part to McGregor, reinstated him on a conditional deal in December.

It came in a loss but Garvey said he was relieved to crack his first NRL start in more than 12 months.

"I've been waiting a while but it was good to get out there with the boys," Garvey said.

"It's been a year now since I played, so the lungs were burning a bit but it was a good experience."

Garvey admitted the possibility of never playing in the NRL had crossed his mind on a number of occasions during his exile.

"Yeah, definitely. With all the stuff I went through last year I thought I blew my chance," he said.

"Apart from that my outside life was going off the rails a bit.

"I wasn't focused on training, I thought I could just turn up on the day and play good footy."

Garvey said some heart-to-heart discussions with McGregor was the catalyst for his return.

"I went and saw Mary halfway through pre-season and he gave me another shot and I told him I wouldn't let him down," Garvey said. "I've been with Mary since my last year of under 20s when he was caching NSW Cup.

"Without him I wouldn't even be in this squad, so I want to repay him and do whatever's asked of me to be part of the team.

"Getting my off-field life sorted has helped as well and I've got the drive back in me to play first grade.

"I want to be a part of this team more than anything; that's all I'm thinking about."

With Rein due to return from a one-week suspension against the Cowboys on Saturday, Garvey faces another lengthy stint in the NSW Cup but he's happy to bide his time.

"Mitch is always going to be number one the way he's playing and he's a vital part of the team," Garvey said.

"I know I've got to improve in a lot of areas but I can still help the team out whenever they need me to."