Dropped during last year's State of Origin series, Ben Creagh was told he wasn't playing with any confidence.

It was a decision he agreed with.

The NSW forward admitted he had needed to rebuild his self belief to play Origin football again following his axing after game two last year.

"(They told me) I wasn't playing with any confidence and it was true," Creagh told reporters on Thursday.

"I really wasn't. I was not getting involved in games, wasn't defending well.

"I wish it didn't happen, but it kind of took getting dropped to motivate me to improve my game and get better.

"I'm sorry it had to happen like that, but it did, and I've definitely been working on a lot of things."

The 26-year-old said he'd become complacent after notching Test and Origin appearances, and helping St George Illawarra's revival to finish minor premiers in Wayne Bennett's first season at the helm.

"I think it is (complacency) a bit as you get older," he said.

"I'm not that old but you think you've ticked all the boxes or you've got things covered and you really haven't.

"You've got to keep working on things that you're doing well and you've just got to try and keep getting better at them.

"That's the secret. You can't just be complacent and just think that's good enough. It's not.

"That's what I've learnt from that whole experience and it's probably a good thing I learnt."

Ask him what specifically he was not doing well and Creagh reeled off a long list - slow play-the-balls, no line speed in defence, lack of involvement, predictability.

"I was kind of getting left out of games, it was my fault," he said.

"I'm trying to mix my game up a bit so I'm not so one-dimensional and adding a bit more value to the side."

And it's Bennett he credited with a turnaround that was a major part of the Dragons' drought-breaking premiership and led to Creagh wearing a Test jersey again earlier this month.

"He told me to go back to the drawing board and work on the things I know that, when I'm doing them well, I'm playing well and that's what I did," Creagh said.

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