AFTER losing more than $1 million and having to endure two years of negative headlines following his positive test for cocaine, Wendell Sailor will use his return from a drug ban to warn others of the perils of drugs.

Having had his $700,000-per-year Australian Rugby Union contract torn up in 2006, Sailor has been forced to accept an incentive-based deal with St George Illawarra to give himself a chance to put a fitting end to a stunning career that started at the Broncos in 1993.

Sailor's comeback with the code he left seven seasons ago to become a dual international will begin on Saturday night at Shellharbour and it is unclear how long it will be before he is expected to graduate to the NRL.

"It could take me six weeks, it could take me four weeks, it could take me eight weeks - I'm not sure," he said.

Before then, however, he plans to begin work with the Dragons on an anti-drugs campaign - an idea Sailor raised with the club during talks aimed at convincing them to give him a second chance.

"You make mistakes and you have to be accountable," he said. "As I tell a lot of young kids, drugs and sport don't go together and it wasn't just that for me. [It was] stepping out of that realm of being a professional athlete. I made a monumental mistake and for me, I could go to Timbuktu or go to France and come back over there but I just think I made my mistake here so I want to come back and finish here .. but it's not going to be easy."

Dragons chief executive Peter Doust said Sailor would be involved with the Dragons community program to sell his anti-drugs message. "He convinced us that he was keen to play that sort of role and we have a community program that is a natural fit for what he wants to do off the field," Doust said. "There's nothing like people who have had a poor experience that can communicate that better than most."

¡ Brett Finch has signed a new three-year deal with Parramatta, tying him to the club until 2011.

With AAP